Commodity trading platforms have lashed out at EU proposals to centralise the purchase of natural gas, hydrogen and critical minerals for being bureaucratic over-reach that will make the bloc a commercial competitor.

Leading industry software suppliers have warned that the EU’s plans, which would require the companies to build a new trading system and then transfer ownership to Brussels, would also undermine European efforts to foster local tech champions. They also warned that the plans were not fit for purpose for how the target commodities were traded.

The criticisms are the starkest yet of EU efforts to aggregate demand for commodities in the hope of pushing prices down and jump-starting nascent or localised markets, in the way the bloc managed successfully for Covid-19 vaccines. Brussels also turned to joint purchases of gas after record price spikes following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.