Charting the Rise of ‘Global Europe’

Abstract

‘Global Europe’ was the defining document in EU trade policy from 2006 until late 2010, when it was superseded by the 2010 ‘Trade, Growth and World Affairs’ strategy (see Chapter 6). After the long strategic lull that followed the failure of the EU’s ambitious Doha agenda at Cancún — and given the increasing perception after the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial that the Doha Round was moribund — it announced an end to the moratorium on FTAs and a more activist trade policy premised on securing market access for exporters through FTAs. Although clearly bearing the imprint of Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson under whose watch it originated, ‘Global Europe’ shaped EU trade policy beyond his tenure. It did so most visibly in terms of the trade agreements it spawned but also, and very importantly, by forming a key part of an emerging neoliberal trade order with clear antecedents in the SMP. In both senses, it became a key strategic reference point for officials working in DG Trade and also played a major role in shaping its successor, the post-Lisbon Agenda ‘Europe 2020’ trade strategy. One cannot, therefore, understand the drivers of the EU’s recent (preferential) trade agenda without first charting the rise of ‘Global Europe’.