Institute for International Trade

A message from the Director

A delegation from the European Parliament, the Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA), arrives in Australia this week. The Committee has an influential voice on trade issues, and its visit is highly significant for two reasons. First, Australia and the EU are at an advanced stage in negotiations for a free trade agreement. Second, the steadily deteriorating international security and economic environment means that relationships grounded in shared values are more important than ever.

In that light, our latest op-ed by myself and Dr Naoise McDonagh discuss the implications and opportunities arising from the INTA’s Australian tour. Top of the discussion list for coordinated cooperation are issues such as stabilizing the rules-based trading order, countering economic coercion, and engaging the EU in the Indo-Pacific. Our second publication is a working paper I co-authored with Rolf Langhammer of the Kiel Institute. The paper addresses in detail the development of the EU’s Open Strategic Autonomy policy as a response to a changing world. In doing so, the authors weigh the benefits and risks of this major new policy direction taken by the EU.

Professor Peter Draper

POLICY & ENGAGEMENT 

Australia and the European Union’s shared Indo-Pacific Future

After recently holding hearings on the EU’s Indo-Pacific trade strategy, the EU Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) is visiting Australia this week. The EU Parliament has equal decision-making status on trade issues with the Council and Commission, so the significance of the visit for EU-Australia trade relations should not be underestimated. Australia and the European Union’s relationship is built on shared values, strengthened by growing international security risks.

Professor Peter Draper Executive Director, Institute for International Trade
Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer & Policy & Engagement Managing Editor

The future of EU trade policy and strategies in a militarised environment

China’s divergent economic model is challenging the global economic order. In response to systemic rivalry and an increasingly tense international environment, the EU seeks to build more “strategic autonomy”. Economically, the EU policy of Open Strategic Autonomy seeks to maintain openness to trade, while developing tools for dealing with coercive and unfair trade practices. This paper identifies assesses the benefits of this policy, and well as the risks it holds for Europe’s economic liberalism.

Peter Draper is Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade, and Jean Monnet Chair in Trade and Environment.

Rolf J. Langhammer retired from the Vice-Presidency of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy 2012, but continues to work at the Institute.

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