POSITION | EXTERNAL ECONOMIC POLICY | EUROPE
For a New EU Trade Agenda
Designing modern trade policy strategies for an industrially competitive Europe
September 2024 Trade policy recommendations for the next EU Commission The incoming European Commission will face intensified global competition, growing industrial overcapacity and international market distortions, as well as increasing geopolitical upheavals. Adapting to this new environment will require a comprehensive and modern trade policy agenda. The BDI continues to believe in the idea of free trade and the central role of free trade agreements (FTA’s). FTA’s and the open European market are both prerequisites for maintaining and expanding Europe's economic base and the prosperity of its citizens, and key to ensuring the EU's competitiveness. Simultaneously, the EU must increase the resilience of its industrial sector, as well as protect it from unfair competition. A restructuring of EU industry towards climate neutrality and securing EU competitiveness can only be achieved if the growing foreign trade policy challenges and the EU's own offensive and defensive interests are addressed. These structural challenges posed by changing global political conditions require new approaches, as does the transformation of global industry. Policy initiatives for reforms, diversification and greater resilience must be accompanied by a pragmatic roadmap for implementing new approaches in trade policy and a forward-looking regulation. Firstly, initiatives for reform require an intensive review and potential adjustment of long-held positions. Secondly, they require adjustments to the formulation and implementation of trade policy itself. And thirdly, policy-makers may wish to consider breaking with orthodoxy where necessary, e. g. by thinking trade and other policy areas together. From the perspective of German industry, a modern trade agenda must comprise the following elements:
Swiftly concluding ongoing FTA negotiations. These include the agreements with the MERCOSUR countries, Indonesia, India and the modernization of the agreement with Mexico. Policymakers must also resume talks with Australia. It is imperative that the EU shows more flexibility in the negotiations and that member states more clearly communicate the advantages of these agreements to secure the backing of the European population. The key objectives here must be the complete liberalization of customs duties on industrial goods and the creation of a level playing field.
Patricia Schetelig | External Economic Policy | T: +32 2 792 1008 | p.schetelig@bdi.eu | www.bdi.eu