EU trade and investment policies under review to support the EU economic recovery

On 16th June the European Commission launched a review of the EU’s trade and investment policy. The policy review is key as it will set the political direction for EU trade and investment policy in the years to come.

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Two key objectives are steering the review process.

- First, to assess how trade policy can contribute to the socio-economic recovery post Covid-19 and reinforce competitiveness, also through the green and digital transition. In other words, with this review the Commission considers that all the EU instruments, including the trade policy, should support the objectives of the EU’s recovery plan. This is key as the Commission’s  Spring Economic Forecast projects a sharp contraction of the EU economy  by 7.4% in 2020, while global GDP will fall by 4.9% %, according to the last economic update of the IMF, and global trade by between 13-16%.

- Second, to gauge how the EU trade policy can contribute to the new model of “Open Strategic Autonomy” ensuring the benefits of the EU openness while protecting the businesses from unfair practices and making them more resilient for the new global challenges.

The consultation covers the most important chapters of the EU trade policy:

• Building more resilience – internal and external dimensions;

• Supporting socio-economic recovery and growth;

• Supporting SMEs;

• Supporting the green transition and making trade more sustainable and responsible;

• Supporting the digital transition and technological development;

• Ensuring fairness and a level playing field.

The results of this consultation will feed into a communication to be published towards the end of the year.