Improving European economic statecraft

The EU institutions were built at a time when trade and the economy could, in principle, be dealt with separately from security considerations, which have remained the remit of national governments. But this neatly siloed world has vanished. In the geoeconomic age of Xi, Putin and Trump, almost all economic exchanges have a strategic or security dimension. And thus far, the EU institutions have proved incapable of the joined-up decision-making required to leverage the Union’s economic power in the service of its geostrategic interests. 

This stark assessment served as the genesis of a bold new proposal by Hans Kribbe and Luuk van Middelaar for the establishment of an EU Economic Security Council – an easy-to-implement framework which would bring the vital ‘strategic lens’ to EU policymaking which is, for now, sorely lacking. The hypothetical Council would be helmed by a European Economic Security Advisor, and would be structured so as to cut across the heavily-siloed domains of trade, economic policy and security which are increasingly intertwined. 

To mark the launch of BIG’s proposal, the report’s co-authors hosted a breakfast roundtable event on 30 September which assembled high-level policymakers, political scientists and economic experts to explore the potential added value of an EU Economic Security Council and the modalities around its eventual implementation. 

Participants were united on BIG’s diagnosis of the problem – namely, that the European institutions can no longer afford the peacetime complacency which has neglected economic statecraft in favour of ‘no questions asked’ prosperity. They also brought crucial insider insights into play, assessing the proposal from the perspectives of their own fields and day-to-day experience of EU decision-making. 

How best to ensure complementary between an Economic Security Council and existing mechanisms? How to reconcile established notions of the EU’s role and its place in the world with the strategic trade-offs which our time requires? And how can EU leaders ensure any new framework for strategic assessments is matched by the cultivation of industrial and technological assets which ensure the Union remains a relevant geopolitical actor? 

As the world turns, the European institutions too must respond effectively and coherently to the challenges on the horizon – or its place in the new power politics will be determined by others. An EU Economic Security Council represents part of the answer, and BIG will continue to bring forward the bold thinking which charts a path for Europe’s continued strategic relevance.