European Trade Policy at the Service of Geopolitics? Requirements for New Instruments from the Perspective of Family Businesses

Against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions with China and Russia and drawing on the experience gained during Donald Trump's US presidency, the EU is drafting new rules for a common foreign trade policy. The current French Presidency of the Council is seeking to prepare regulations on international procurement, protection against economic coercion and a carbon border adjustment mechanism as well as EU-wide supply chain legislation. These measures would change Europe's foreign trade policy fundamentally, politicising it and using it to achieve goals which go beyond foreign trade policy. Trade policy must not, and cannot, be a substitute for foreign policy. The EU must adjust its foreign trade policy actions to new geostrategic realities, but this must not lead to a widespread rise in protectionism. Otherwise, the benefits of the international division of labour enjoyed by family businesses, consumers and nations alike will be lost.