The Common Commercial Policy and the Competitiveness of EU Industry

Despite the global economic crisis of 2008–2010 and the spectacular rise of emerging powers, the European Union still remains one of the world’s major players. In these circumstances the EU is deeply dependant on trade, and particularly on exports. However in the post-global crisis period the EU, in the face of the gradual erosion of its market position in favour of rapidly growing emerging markets and the relatively weak demand for European products, is committed to secure its presence in traditional markets and conquer new ones. In recent years, the EU’s Common Commercial Policy has undergone fundamental changes, moving from being technocratic in nature and lacking in transparency to becoming less defensive and more open to the world. Being a strong advocate of a rule-based multilateral system, the EU has supported trade negotiations within the Doha Development Round to further liberalise trade in goods and services, improve market access for developing countries, and review trade rules. At the same time, the EU acknowledged that the multilateral approach has not yielded genuine progress over the years. In response, a new strategy of the European Union, launched in 2006, combined the multilateral approach with renewed efforts to forge bilateral trade relations, an approach supported in the Europe 2020 strategy. Due to numerous declarations on the need for a new commercial policy, it is important to coordinate the EU’s approach to a more comprehensive external trade policy with its direct contribution to the EU’s competitiveness, both inside and outside the EU.