THE 2021 EU TRADE POLICY REVIEW: SHIFT IN TRADE STRATEGY AND NEW INITIATIVES

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore whether the European Union (EU) has adapted its trade strategy to the emerging needs and challenges in the post-pandemic era. Comparing the EU’s new trade strategy document ‘Trade Policy Review’ with the previous one ‘Trade for All’, the study demonstrates that the EU reformulated its trade strategy to tackle the present challenges. Using text mining techniques with R programming language, two trade strategy documents were analyzed separately and comparatively. The findings reveal that the priorities of the current trade agenda are economy, sustainability, and global actions. Compared with the previous document, the emphasis on sustainability and digitalization is much stronger in the Trade Policy Review. Besides, resilience and transition seem to be relatively new areas of focus.

Keywords

• European Union
• EU Trade Policy
• Sustainability
• Digitalization
• Text Mining

2021 AB Ticaret Politikası İncelemesi: Ticaret Stratejisinde Değişim ve Yeni Girişimler

Abstract

Bu makalenin amacı, Avrupa Birliği (AB)'nin, ticaret stratejisini, pandemi sonrası dönemde ortaya çıkan ihtiyaç ve zorluklara göre uyarlayıp uyarlamadığını araştırmaktır. AB'nin yeni ticaret stratejisi belgesi "Ticaret Politikası İncelemesi" ile önceki strateji belgesi "Herkes için Ticaret"i karşılaştıran çalışma, AB'nin mevcut zorlukların üstesinden gelmek için ticaret stratejisini yeniden formüle ettiğini göstermektedir. Çalışmada, R programlama dili ile metin madenciliği teknikleri kullanılarak, iki ticaret stratejisi belgesi ayrı ayrı ve karşılaştırmalı olarak analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular, mevcut ticaret politikası gündeminin önceliklerinin, ekonomi, sürdürülebilirlik ve küresel eylemler olduğunu göstermektedir. Önceki strateji belgesine kıyasla, Ticaret Politikası İncelemesinde, sürdürülebilirlik ve dijitalleşme konularına yapılan vurgu çok daha güçlüdür. Dayanıklılık ve geçiş ise nispeten yeni odak alanları gibi görünmektedir.

Keywords

• Avrupa Birliği
• AB Ticaret Politikası
• Sürdürülebilirlik
• Dijitalleşme
• Metin Madenciliği

References

1. Commission services. “Feedback and Way Forward on Improving the Implementation and Enforcement of Trade and Sustainable Development Chapters in EU Free Trade Agreements.” February 26, 2018. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/ docs/2018/february/tradoc_156618.pdf
2. Committee on International Trade. “Hearing of Valdis Dombrovskis- Executive vice president of the European Commission and Commissioner-designate (trade).” October 2, 2020. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/files/commissionners/ valdis-dombrovskis/en-dombrovskis-verbatim-report.pdf
3. D'Alfonso, Alessandro. “Legislative Train Schedule - An Economy that Works for People.” Last modified October 22, 2021. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/ legislative-train/theme-an-economy-that-works-for-people/file-mff-post-2020- own-resources
4. Erixon, Fredrik. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Taking Stock of Europe’s New Trade Policy Strategy.” ECIPE Policy Brief, no 7 (2021): 1-16.
5. “EU DAG Letter to Commissioner Malmström.” December 16, 2016. https://www.epsu.org/sites/default/files/article/files/EU%20DAG%20letter%20 to%20Commissioner%20Malmstrom_signed%20by%20the%20Chair%20and %20Vice-Chairs.pdf
6. European Commission. “Commission Launches New Complaints System to Fight Trade Barriers and Violations of Sustainable Trade Commitments.” November 16, 2020. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2134
7. European Commission. “Communication from the Commission of 9 March 2021 on 2030 Digital Compass: The European Way for the Digital Decade (COM(2021) 118 final).” Accessed September 11, 2021. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021DC0118
8. European Commission. “Communication from the Commission of 11 December 2019 on the European Green Deal (COM (2019) 640 final).” Accessed February 18, 2021. https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/communication-european-green deal_en

9. European Commission. “EU-China – A Strategic Outlook.” March 12, 2019. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-eu-china-a-strategic outlook.pdf
10. European Commission. “EU Releases Proposal on new WTO Rules for Electronic Commerce.” May 3, 2019. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=2016&title=EU-releases proposal-on-new-WTO-rules-for-electronic-commerce
11. European Commission. “Europe Fit for the Digital Age: Commission Proposes New Rules for Digital Platforms.” December 15, 2020. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_2347
12. European Commission. “EU-US Launch Trade and Technology Council to Lead Values-based Global Digital Transformation.” June 15, 2021. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_2990
13. European Commission, “Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937,” February 23, 2022, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022PC0071
14. European Commission. “Proposal of 25 November 2020 on European Data Governance (Data Governance Act) (COM(2020) 767 final).” Accessed February 12, 2021. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri= CELEX%3A52020PC0767
15. European Commission. “Proposal of 21 April 2021 Laying Down Harmonised Rules on Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) and Amending Certain Union Legislative Acts (COM(2021) 206 final).” Accessed September 11, 2021. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021PC0206
16. European Commission. “Proposal of 14 July 2021 for Establishing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (COM(2021) 564 final).” Accessed September 7, 2021. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021PC0564
17. European Commission. “Recovery and Resilience Facility”. Accessed September 9, 2021. https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/recovery-coronavirus/ recovery-and-resilience-facility_en
18. European Commission. “Report from the Commission to the Parliament and the Council on Trade and Investment Barriers.” Accessed August 20, 2021. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2020/june/tradoc_158789.pdf
19. European Commission. “State of the Union Address 2020.” Accessed April 21, 2021. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/soteu_2020_en.pdf
20. European Commission. “The EU’s 2021-2027 Long-term Budget and NextGenerationEU – Facts and Figures.” April 29, 2021. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d3e77637-a963-11eb 9585-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
21. European Commission. “Trade for All: Towards a More Responsible Trade and Investment Policy.” October, 2015. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/ 2015/october/tradoc_153846.pdf
22. European Commission. “Trade Policy Review - An Open, Sustainable and Assertive Trade Policy.” February 18, 2021. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:5bf4e9d0-71d2-11eb-9ac9-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_2&format =PDF
23. European Commission. “Trade Policy Review 2020: Summary of Contributions Received.” December 1,2020. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2020/ december/tradoc_159146.pdf
24. European Parliament. (2020). “European Parliament Resolution of 7 October 2020 on the Implementation of the Common Commercial Policy – Annual Report 2018 (2019/2197(INI)).” Last modified January 13, 2021. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0252_EN.html
25. Eurostat. “Euro Area International Trade in Goods Surplus €7.3 bn.” Last modified November 15, 2021. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2013/december/ tradoc_151969.pdf
26. Eurostat. “GDP Main Aggregates and Employment Estimates for the Fourth Quarter of 2020.” Last modified March 9, 2021. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/11562975/2-09032021-AP EN.pdf/2cf0fd87-a11d-a0eb-ca36-2092f1574f80?t=1615239292163
27. Fabry, Elvire and Andreas Veskoukis. “Strategic Autonomy in Post-Covid Trade Policy: How Far Should We Politicise Supply Chains?” IAI Papers 21, 33 (July 2021): 1-23.
28. Imazon. “Is the EU-MERCOSUR Trade Agreement Deforestation-proof?” November, 2020. https://imazon.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ mercosulue_en_imazon.pdf
29. Jacobs, Thomas, Niels Gheyle, Ferdi de Ville, and Jan Orbie. “The Hegemonic Politics of ‘Strategic Autonomy’ and ‘Resilience’: COVID-19 and the Dislocation of EU Trade Policy.” Journal of Common Market Studies (2022): 1-17.
30. Milošević, Aleksandar. “Falling behind: the European Union Trade Strategies from 1999 to 2021.” Serbian Political Thought 74, no 4 (2021): 83-104.
31. Orbie, Jan. “EU Trade Policy Meets Geopolitics: What About Trade Justice?” European Foreign Affairs Review 26, no 2 (2021): 197-202.
32. Panel of Experts Proceeding Constituted under Article 13.15 of the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement. “Report of the Panel of Experts.” January 20, 2021. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2021/january/tradoc_159358.pdf R Core Team. “Microsoft R Open (Version 4.0.2).” https://mran.microsoft.com/open “Regulation (EU) No 1119/2020 of 30 June 2021 Establishing the Framework for Achieving Climate Neutrality and Amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’).” Official Journal of the European Union, L 243/1.
33. Titievskaia, Jana. “Using Trade Policy to Tackle Climate Change.” October, 2019. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2019/642231/EPRS_A TA(2019)642231_EN.pdf
34. Velut, JB., Baeza-Breinbauer, D., De Bruijne, M., Garnizova, E., Jones, M., Kolben, K., Oules, L., Rouas, V., Tigere Pittet, F., Zamparutti, T. “Comparative Analysis of Trade and Sustainable Development Provisions in Free Trade Agreements”. February, 2022. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2022/february/tradoc_ 160043.pdf
35. Vignarelli, Mattia Colli. “The European Trade Policy Review. The Effectiveness of Sustainable Development Chapters in EU FTAs.” European Papers 6, no 1 (2021): 1-5.