CER/Clifford Chance hybrid discussion on 'Can the EU balance economic security and competitiveness?'

Speakers:
Sofia Bournou, Senior Adviser, International Relations Department, BusinessEurope
Denis Redonnet, Deputy Director-General for Trade & Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, European Commission
Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, Member, European Parliament
Georgios Yannouchos, Counsel, Clifford Chance LLP
Chair: Zach Meyers, Assistant Director, Centre for European Reform

As geopolitical tensions increase, the EU has spent several years developing an economic security strategy to help limit Europe's dependencies and protect the Union's position in strategic industries. Brussels is sharpening a range of new tools to address foreign coercion, subsidies, exports of certain goods, and investment in sensitive sectors. Considering that these tools also carry risks – such as impacting Europe's attractiveness for trade investment, imposing high compliance costs, creating regulatory unpredictability – their implementation would need to take into account the EU's commitment to open trade, while securing Europe's competitiveness. Should the EU take a more central role in economic security? Will the EU's approach be effective at safeguarding European interests? How can the EU develop an approach which balances security with economic growth and competitiveness? And how can the EU address growing policy differences on security with its trading partners?