EU Strategic Autonomy and Trade Policy in a Post-Covid World

European Strategic Autonomy is an increasingly significant and controversial guiding concept for the European Union (EU) at a time of geopolitical tensions and economic transformation. It refers to the EU's ability to chart its own course in line with its interests and values in different policy areas. Strategic Autonomy is shaping the EU trade policy along three main dimensions: openness to trade and investment, responsibility for a greener and fairer world, and assertiveness against unfair and coercive practices.

Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and Institut Jacques Delors (IJD) cooperate in a research project “Strategic autonomy in a post-Covid world: an Italo-French perspective” on the application of this model to European trade and investment, with the aim to explore the state of play and the challenges for value chains resilience, and the geopolitical dimension in the framework of the USA-China rivalry.

During the webinar, the main results of the research efforts carried out by IAI and IJD were presented and discussed with leading experts.