Seminar by guestspeaker Cecilia Malmström, Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and visiting professor at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. Former European Commissioner for Trade.

In the midst of geopolitical tensions, elections in the EU and in several key trade partners, including in the US, EU trade policy faces several challenges. The concept of ‘Open Strategic Autonomy’ that permeates the course for an open, sustainable, and assertive EU trade policy has translated into concrete policy measures and regulations that seek to achieve a sustainable, climate-neutral and inclusive economy. However, some of these measures are perceived as unilateral and have raised concerns from trade partners. At the multilateral level, the EU has set as a priority the reform of global trade rules to ensure that they are fair and sustainable, including the reform of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, and the discussion on trade and industrial policies, climate change and environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. 

This scenario gives rise to a series of interrogates that will be addressed during this seminar: What are the geopolitical implications of EU’s current trade policy? How can the EU contribute to coordination at the multilateral level while pursuing its key policy objectives? What can we expect from the 13^th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-13)? What should be the way forward for EU’s internal and external trade policy?