The EU’s international trade priorities are shifting

Significance

From the strategy, it appears the EU no longer sees free trade deals as an end in themselves but as another instrument -- alongside tools such as Carbon Border Adjustment Measures (CBAM) and the International Procurement Instrument -- to protect the internal economy and enhance the EU’s global influence on climate change, human rights and labour standards.

Impacts

• The EU’s increasingly protectionist trade agenda risks creating political tensions with trade partners.
• Closer EU-US cooperation on trade, among other areas, would weaken the prospects for stronger EU relations with China.
• As old industries die, the population ages and the EU moves towards digitisation, Europe could become more dependent on foreign innovation.