Commerce and Security Meet in the European Union’s Trade Defence Instruments

Abstract

Mercantilist policies, protectionism, Chinese and US violations of the spirit—if not always the rules—of the World Trade Organization, along with supply chain vulnerabilities, trade wars, and illegal state subsidies have all contributed to a rise in the weaponisation of commerce (using trade in response to, or to achieve, political decisions or acts) across the globe. The weaponisation and geo-politicisation of trade pose a challenge for the EU, which is poorly suited for a game of power politics. Its common commercial policy developed separately from the intergovernmental foreign and security policy. The level of exclusive EU competence differs across the two policy domains, as do decision-making processes. Drawing on work addressing ideational and instrumental levels of policy, we discuss how the EU is assessing the international environment through the ideational framework of strategic autonomy, and how this has shaped the construction of new trade defence instruments intended to protect against economic and technology-related security risks. Focusing specifically on trade defence instruments addressing security concerns, which are justified in the 2023 European Economic Security Strategy (especially in the pillar focusing on protecting against economic security risks), we show that the distinction between commercial policy and traditional security concerns is eroding.

Economic Security and the Politics of Trade and Investment Policy in Europe

“…A core objective of the postwar liberal international economic order was to separate commercial policy and security issues as much as possible (Garcia-Duran et al, 2023). This was relatively easy to do because of a clear distinction between what belonged to the economic vs. the security realms, albeit with some grey area in between for dual-use goods and technologies.…”

“…In both cases, these external factors pushed the EU away from its "naivete" towards liberal globalization and the free market (Bauerle Danzman & Meunier, 2023). Challenges of globalization and the rise of protectionist measures worldwide have caught up with the EU, forcing a rethink of its approach to international trade and economic openness (Garcia-Duran et al, 2023).…”