The European Union has now entered the third period of its economic history. The first one, from the inception of the integration project until 1989, took place in the circumstances of post-war reconstruction, the creation of the Single Market and relatively few competitive pressures from the outside world. The subsequent period, from 1989 until the 2010s was one of both the largest expansion of the EU to new members as well as globalisation, which Europe was for a time able to shape in its image. There is little that remains of that world today as the global environment becomes ever more conflictual and shock-prone. The EU needs to draw the right conclusions, and change its model to defend its interests while not giving up the aspiration to achieve greater global collaboration. In this context, economic security is becoming increasingly central, as seen at the recent G7 meeting,3 signalling a paradigm shift in international economic relations. Economic security, defined through the symbiotic relationship between competitiveness and a security agenda, is foundational for the EU’s future strategic agenda.
Authors: Georg Riekeles, Associate Director and Head of Europe’s Political Economy programme at the European Policy Centre; Paweł Świeboda, Senior Visiting Fellow at the European Policy Centre.
This text has originally been published on the EPC website.
