Dear Readers, dear colleagues,
Germany and the EU are looking for partners: for our socio-ecological transformation, we need many new trading partners who are also being courted by geoeconomic rivals.
The main focus is on the resilient supply of critical raw materials, green hydrogen, and sustainable energy on which the German and European economies depend.
The new approach to “transformation partnerships” which the EU and Germany have developed in recent years, aims to encourage partners to sell their highly sought-after products to the EU and Germany rather than to geo-economic rivals like China or the United States.
However, our new study "Competitive International Partnerships" with the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund shows that Germany and the EU are making big promises to new partners – but are doing too little to deliver on them.
Based on partner perspectives from three world regions, the study develops reform recommendations for more competitive and thus more resilient partnerships.
These recommendations are particularly relevant today, as the new German government is adhering to partnerships as an important geopolitical instrument and the EU Commission wants to further develop the existing approach with the new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships.
