On May 19th, The European Studies Centre welcomed Ignacio Garcia-Bercero to deliver a speech entitled “The impact of the new geopolitical context on European trade policy.” Garcia-Bercero is the Director in charge of Multilateral Affairs, Strategy, Analysis and Evaluation at the Directorate-General for Trade in the European Commission. Active within the European Commission since 1987, he participated in the Uruguay Round negotiations and was the Chief Negotiator for the EU-Korea and EU-India Free Trade Agreements.
The event was chaired by Othon Anastasakis (St Antony’s College, Oxford) and Jonathan Scheele (SEESOX) acted as a discussant. As the talk was convened jointly by the European Studies Centre and the Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre, Roy Allison (St Antony’s College, Oxford) was also present to ask questions before the official Q&A session.
Garcia-Bercero began his presentation by outlining the connection between the global trading system and worsening geopolitical tensions. In 2021, he co-authored a document on the direction in which EU trade policy should develop in the context of worsening US-China relations. The paper made three important arguments. Firstly, the WTO needs to be reformed. Secondly, there ought to be a closer connection between EU trade policy and EU economic priorities. Thirdly, the EU must put together a toolbox for autonomous economic action that will enable the body to act more assertively when faced with pressure. These proposals combine openness, sustainability, and assertiveness as goals for European trade policy.
