The European Union Industrial Strategy: Reconciling Competition and Geoeconomic Challenges
The EU’s basic assumptions, on which it grounds its economic and trade power, are being steadily cast into doubt. The EU’s main trade partners, the US and China, increasingly set their sights on securing their supply chains, which may further a potential decoupling.
This shift is likely to be accelerated in the context of growing geopolitical instability. Multilateralism and international trade principles are increasingly challenged by a weakening of international institutions and the recourse to asymmetric market practices, while technological leadership will be key in the struggle for global leadership. Being fundamentally built on economic openness, the EU is comparatively ill-equipped to respond to these developments. Its biggest economy, Germany, is prompted to assert itself if it does not want to lose in competitiveness. While the EU is developing strategies, policies, and instruments to adapt to this change of circumstances and increase its resilience, a shift in mentalities, leaving behind political and economic short-term interests, will be necessary.
Marie Krpata works as a Research Fellow at the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) at the French Institute of International Relations – Ifri where she dedicates her research activities to the European Union and the external relations of the Franco-German couple. Before joining the Cerfa she worked in non-governmental and international organizations as well as in consultancies.
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
The European Union Industrial Strategy: Reconciling Competition and Geoeconomic Challenges
Author(s)
Marie KRPATA
Research Fellow, Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa), Ifri
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programs
The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) was created in 1954 by an inter-governmental agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and France, in order to raise awareness of Germany in France and analyze Franco-German relations, including in their European and international dimensions. In its conferences and seminars, which bring together experts, political leaders, senior decision-makers and representatives of civil society from both countries, Cerfa develops the Franco-German debate and stimulates political proposals. It regularly publishes studies through two collections: Cerfa notes and studies as well as Franco-German visions.
Cerfa maintains close relations with the network of German foundations and think tanks. In addition to its research and debate activities, Cerfa promotes the emergence of a new Franco-German generation through original cooperation programs. This is how in 2021-2022, Cerfa led a program on multilateralism with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Paris. This program is aimed at young professionals from both countries interested in the issues of multilateralism in the context of their activities. It covered a wide range of themes relating to multilateralism, such as international trade, health, human rights and migration, non-proliferation and disarmament. Previously, Cerfa had participated in the Franco-German future dialogue, co-led with the DGAP from 2007 to 2020, and supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation and the Daniel Vernet group (formerly the Franco-German Reflection Group) which was founded in 2014 upon the initiative of the Genshagen Foundation.
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
DOSSIER - 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty (1963) and implementation of the Treaty of Aachen (2019): where do Franco-German relations stand?
On January 23, 2023, France and Germany celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty. This is an opportunity for us to analyze the state of relations between the two countries, and the contribution made by the Treaty of Aachen, which was added in 2019.
Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall: what’s new in the East?
As we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 2024, let’s start from the premise that the Berlin Wall did not “fall” on the night of November 9, 1989.
State Elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg - Extreme Parties on the Rise?
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) became Germany's strongest political force in the regional elections in Thuringia and Saxony.
Ensuring a Fair Green Transition
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, stated UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023, emphasising that we are currently on a path of global warming above 2.4°C or even 2.9°C.