Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships

To secure the green transformation, Europe must reduce its vulnerability to economic blackmail from countries such as China and the USA. This requires new partnerships with countries outside the traditional supply networks. "It is crucial that the EU expands its economic relationships with new strategic partners to drive the diversification of supply chains for key green technologies," says cep economist Andre Wolf, author of the study. In this context, the deepening of the EU's trade and investment partnerships with countries such as Canada, Australia and Japan is gaining strategic importance. "Such trading partners not only offer access to valuable raw materials, but also to research and production capacities for innovative technologies that are of central importance for the green transformation," emphasises Wolf.

When selecting cooperation partners, the EU must maintain a balance between covering as many different resource requirements as possible and avoiding new one-sided dependencies. Different partners should complement each other well. The EU must also ensure that its partnerships remain sustainable in the long term and offer prospects for economic growth. This requires cooperation in the creation of stable common markets, for example through the harmonisation of technical standards and a coordinated climate and energy policy.

The EU must develop a smart strategy for prioritising measures to promote cooperation. The choice of means should be orientated towards the partner-specific cooperation potentials and barriers. To this end, the study develops a methodological framework that can serve as the basis for a future EU roadmap for green partnerships.