Opportunities and Challenges of the New EU External Trade Policy: Examples of Selected Instruments

Geoeconomic reasoning gains importance in EU trade policy initiatives. In this context, new trade policy instruments have been designed to protect the common internal market against unfair trade practices, coercive actions, to create a level playing field and to ensure sustainable supply chains and the protection of human rights. This article analyses the opportunities and challenges of a more geopolitical orientation of EU foreign trade policy based on six selected new legal instruments: the Anti Coercion Instrument (ACI), the Enforcement Regulation (ER), the International Procurement Instrument (IPI), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).