Trade Policy Study Group

An Introduction to the EU Trade Policy Study Group 

The new European Commission and the new European Parliament will face few challenges in the next five years that are as important and daunting as sustaining the open world economy and increasing the support for it. The support for trade liberalisation has been deteriorating in the past years. Reforms aiming at open economies up to global competition have been scant in the new Millennium. The magnificent wave of trade reforms starting in the early 1980s slowed down considerably in the early 2000s. While the 1990s was a remarkable decade for trade policy the 2000s has been a lost decade. There have hardly been any significant trade reforms at all. Countries have rather become defensive and anxious. Political leadership for trade liberalisation has been absent for many years now.  

Unwinding protectionist measures introduced during the crisis and restoring the global economy should be the prime focus now for European trade policy. Few regions in the world have as great a stake in global trade as Europe. It is only natural that the rest of the world looks to Europe for leadership in global commercial policy. Too often, however, they do not get a response. European leaders have all too often been occupied with internal squabbles that have constrained Europe’s ability to lead. Institutionally, Europe is now in a much better position to lead in trade policy as the Lisbon Treaty has been ratified. The question, however, is: what sort of leadership should Europe offer? 

The European Trade Policy Study Group was formed to offer perspectives on EU trade policy at a time when European and global trade policy need thoughtful leadership. Members of this group come from global business with significant production and investment in Europe. They have for a long time been close observers of European and global trade policy. Some of them work for firms that were born in Europe; others for firms that were born outside Europe. Such distinctions may still matter to some, but not to global business with presence across the globe. The world is not flat, but modern business has globalised to such a degree that few companies today carry only one passport or only have one national identity. Globalisation has been for real, and it has affected the way any global firm operates. While multinationals a few decades ago could think of themselves in narrow geographical terms, this is simply no longer possible. The concept of a singular home market – a reserve for a company where it builds its products and market strategies before they are launched globally – is only possible for the company that has decided to go out of business. Modern leadership, in politics as well as business, can only be successful if it builds on this insight.

Publications

• A Modern Trade Policy for The European Union
  A Report to the new European Commission and Parliament from the EU Trade Policy Study Group

Members of the EU Trade Policy Study Group 

Erik Belfrage
Chairman of the EU Trade Policy Study Group
Senior Vice President, SEB. 

Howard Chase
Director, European Government Affairs
BP Plc 

Esa Kaunistola
Director, Trade Policy
Nokia Corporation 

Mats Holmberg
Vice President, International Liaison
ABB 

Lars Göran Johansson
Senior Vice President
Electrolux 

Rory Macmillan
Director, Government Affairs
Nike EMEA 

Herbert Oberhänsli
Director, Economics and International Relations
Nestlé 

Ulf Pehrsson
Vice President, Government Affairs
Ericsson 

Hugh Pullen
Director, External Trade & Product Integrity
Eli Lilly & Company 

Steve Stewart
Director, Public Affairs
IBM