Global Europe: Strategies for Enhancing the EU’s Global Leadership
What is the role of Europe in spearheading trade reforms and global economic recovery? And what leadership role for the global economy and global institutions can the EU shoulder?
We are living in the Age of Asia, says some. While the economic pulse in Asia is a strong as ever, Europe and the United States suffer from anaemic recoveries and fiscal problems. Opinion in especially the US has turned against the notion of free trade, and in Europe there are growing political sensitivities over trade and immigration. The old Transatlantic axis is passé, it is said, and now is the time to look East for new global institutions and leadership. But is Asia hype really warranted?
How should Europe design its trade policy to reap the benefits from trade and be a global leader? The EU has recently announced its new trade strategy for 2010-2015 to follow up on Peter Mandelson’s Global Europe strategy of 2006. There is still a mix of multilateral and bilateral ambitions, and the strategy is to start negotiating new investment treaties. The Commission calls its new strategy “assertive”, but can it deliver greater market openings for EU firms, import benefits for EU producers and consumers, and global trade leadership?
The LSE International Trade Policy Unit and ECIPE invite you to a two-panel discussion on EU trade-policy priorities in the wake of the global economic crisis and with economic gravity shifting faster to emerging markets.
Programme
13.00: Welcome and Introductory Remarks
13.05-14.30: Panel 1: The new EU trade strategy
Chair: Razeen Sally
Panelists:
- Matthew Baldwin, Director in the European Commission (DG Trade)
- Esa Kaunistola, Director of Trade Policy, Nokia
- Steve Woolcock, Head of International Trade Policy Unit and Senior Lecturer at the LSE
14.30-14.45: Break
14.45-16.00: Panel 2: Europe in the world, the world in Europe
Chair: Fredrik Erixon
Panelists:
- João Marques de Almeida, European Political Adviser to Commission President J.M. Barroso
- Nicola Clase, Swedish Ambassador to the United Kingdom
- Razeen Sally, Director of ECIPE and Senior Lecturer at the LSE
Limited seats available: RSVP to j.p.lamprecht@lse.ac.uk