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Begin New Search Topic Strategic Autonomy Author George Pagoulatos

1. Made in Europe: An EU Green Industrial Plan to respond to the challenge of US and Chinese protectionism

Author:
Alekos Kritikos and George Pagoulatos
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
The EU needs to urgently formulate a response to US and Chinese protectionism. US decarbonization legislation poses a threat of deindustrialization for Europe. Europe needs a plan to support EU green, industrial and technological competitiveness, while protecting European cohesion and the single market, and promoting European strategic autonomy. Relaxing EU state aid rules must be an inevitable first component of Europe’s response. But this would overwhelmingly benefit the stronger economies of Germany and France, undermining EU cohesion and the integrity of the single market. Thus, the second component of EU response must be a European Sovereignty Fund, of a size commensurate to the magnitude of the challenge. The new Fund must support value chain categories that include as many EU member states as possible. SURE, extended to encompass the energy crisis and green transition, should be an integral part of the mix, and so should promoting technological skills and reskilling for the “Clean Tech Economy”. Investment funding should seek to contribute to vertical integration, including as many stages in the supply chain as possible. It should contribute to the return of specific supply chains and production units from third countries to the EU and seek to include the EU’s weakest economies. Subsidies should rise if the investment is cross-border in nature and carry a bonus if made in an EU region with a low GDP per capita compared to the EU average. Funding could also promote European strategic autonomy by including cross-border partnerships of EU member states in the defence technology industry. It should involve new funding rather than simply recycling money from existing programmes, and certainly avoid deploying undisbursed resources from the Recovery & Resilience Fund.
Topic:
European Union, Investment, Industry, Protectionism, and Strategic Autonomy
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and United States of America

2. EU Strategic Priorities for a ‘New Multilateralism’: a follow-up to the European Commission-EEAS Communication

Author:
Spyros Blavoukos and George Pagoulatos
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
All major contemporary challenges, be they environmental, digital, public health or demographic, are cross-national and transnational in nature, necessitating multilateral, cross-border solutions. The EU envisages a world system collaborating more closely and tightly to combat global challenges old and new, like the Covid-19 pandemic and global recession. We follow up on the recent European Commission and EEAS Communication by proposing three key strategic priorities for the EU’s international engagement in the years to come. The EU should make it a priority to improve the performance of all international organizations (IOs), focusing on the most important ones and those in which it has the greatest leverage. The EU should seek to engage with running IOs, to reform IOs and to allocate more resources. The EU should address the weaponization of asymmetric interdependence by taking action at a global multilateral, cross-regional and intra-EU level. Developing EU strategic autonomy should focus on security, AI, digital technology, sustainability and cyber warfare, also by cooperating with like-minded allies like the US. Strengthening the global role of the euro is part of the strategy. The EU should economize resources by prioritizing key regions (Africa and MENA) and key IOs. Finally, promoting rules-based multilateralism at global level requires defending its benefits for European citizens at home.
Topic:
Communications, European Union, Multilateralism, COVID-19, Strategic Autonomy, and European Commission
Political Geography:
Europe