We have the instruments which allow us to effectively integrate these policies into our external actions.
Obviously, adapting these measures to current challenges is an ongoing struggle as they are greater than they were a few years ago, but I want to emphasize that we are not starting from scratch on these matters.
As such, our bilateral trade agreements include elements of cooperation at the global level, ranging from nuclear weapons non-proliferation to the fight against forced labor, respect for human rights, and even adherence to the Paris Agreement. Today, the Union is already implementing economic sanctions in the service of policy goals. Within this paradigm, how can we give ourselves the means to implement this kind of integrated economic policy? First of all, I would say that we are not starting from scratch and that our ability to project the power of our internal market on the international scene is a true strength. In other words, in order to be a global actor, we depend on the strength and coherence that we are capable of deploying within the Union. What I call dual integration corresponds on the one hand to the integration of everything we do in the economic realm at the international level - within a geopolitical perspective - and, on the other hand, to the intermingling of external and internal policies such as industrial policy, internal market policy, competition, or even research policy. Consequently, its questioning is detrimental to countries and businesses engaged in international trade and we must work towards the revitalization of global economic governance, which is not functioning very well at the moment.įor the European Union, it means that it is more important than ever to proceed with a dual integration of all the Union’s exterior actions - of which trade policy is a part - and which must be understood as the implementation of a true international European economic policy. We have every interest in opposing this shift because rules-bound international trade is the cornerstone of a system which protects everyone from arbitrary discrimination. How can the European Union equip itself with the means to deploy a truly integrated geo-economic policy and link policy areas together more systematically?įirst of all, I strongly believe that we should not resign ourselves to this shift from a rules-based order to a power-based order. If this is the case, it seems imperative to bring international economic policy and foreign policy closer together. In a recent speech 1, you noted that there has been a shift in the international order from a rules-based system to a power-based system. The interview is also available on Le Grand Continent.
From the carbon tax at the border to the deployment of a new anti-coercion instrument, Sabine Weyand also gives an overview of the main ongoing dossiers that should enable the Union to “Act according to its interests while preserving its openness”. In light of the shift from a rules-based order to a power-based order, the Director General of the European Commission’s DG Trade and former Deputy Chief Negotiator for the Brexit negotiations looks at the meaning of open strategic autonomy, the dynamics of EU-China relations and the state of the transatlantic bond. In this long in-depth interview, Sabine Weyand outlines her vision of the geopolitical challenges facing the European Union. See all articles The Double Integration Doctrine, a Conversation With Sabine Weyand
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