The European Union must develop its own geoeconomic strategy and pursue an active industrial policy, argues Hertie President Cornelia Woll in this week’s FAZ.
The geopolitical shifts of recent years have highlighted the interdependence of markets and politics, writes Hertie President Cornelia Woll in an op-ed published this week in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
As US influence wanes, Europe faces an existential threat from China's growing economic power, she writes. To compete with the US and China, Europe must develop an integrated, innovative internal market.
In her piece, Woll explained that while other major economies aggressively pursue industrial policies, the EU struggles with its own.
She called for a common strategy preventing member states from competing with each other and ensuring a more united front against external pressures. In addition to sanctions and tariffs, this strategy should include industries such as the financial and data sectors, which are also relevant for security.
“To foster an independent foreign and security policy, Europe must safeguard a resilient internal market. This requires a proactive approach to economic and competition policies to shield European businesses from third-country coercion,” she wrote.
The op-ed marked the launch of FAZ Pro Weltwirtschaft, a new newsletter and section in the German broadsheet which is also the title of the new section in the print FAZ.
Read the full article (in German).
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Cornelia Woll, President and Professor of International Political Economy