For much of the period since the end of the Second World War, it has been close to axiomatic that trade liberalisation should be a core norm for international economic governance.
More recently however this has changed, and not just because of the aggressive stance adopted by the Trump administration. In several European countries, populist parties – some of which are in government – have sought to capitalise on, and fan, the resentment of those who perceive themselves to have been the losers from globalisation. More broadly, the multilateral, rules-based approach to trade governance is under challenge, despite new evidence on the positive correlation between trade liberalisation and economic growth.
In this policy brief, Iain Begg considers the ramifications of the changing trade policy context for the EU and how it can adapt to an evolving globalisation.
Download ‘Trading Places’ here.
Professor Iain Begg is the Academic Co-Director of the Dahrendorf Forum and Co-Chair of the Dahrendorf Working Group “The Future Of European Governance”. He is also a Professorial Research Fellow in the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash.
