Globalization of EU Trade Policy in the COVID-19 Era
covid-19, protectionism, economic globalization, EU trade policy
Research background: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the shape of economic globalization as well as the position of world trade within it. Nation states and several customs unions will have to update their trade policy accordingly to the changing situation. The need for trade policy update is especially related to the EU as one of the most important actors in the world economy. Purpose of the article: This article deals with the priorities of EU trade policy during the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors assess what kind of changes occurred to EU’s trade policy during the first eight months (February to September 2020) since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Europe. Furthermore, the authors also assess the penetration of unusual protectionist measures into the practical execution of EU’s trade policy. Methods: Our approach is built on a content analysis of various trade policy documents from EU and WTO. In this undertaking we also critically reflect on specific trade policy measures already adopted by the European Commission since the global outbreak of COVID-19. Findings & Value added: The article aims to be one of the first of its kind to analyze the changes caused by COVID-19 to the formation of EU trade policy. The paper concludes that during the first eight months of the pandemic, the EU trade policy followed the liberal path and protectionist measures were applied scarcely. However, in the future, EU will have to deal with increasing protectionist pressures from both internal and external environment.