Mandiner’s review of a POLITICO piece that said the European Union is set to rethink its ideals in order to survive.

On 5 December, POLITICO published an article titled ‘Europe First: Brussels gets ready to dump its free trade ideals’. The news website highlighted: ‘More open trade used to be a no-brainer for the EU. Now European industries are fighting to survive’. According to POLITICO, the last big defender of rules-based open trade—the European Union—is about to fall.

In POLITICO’s opinion, the downfall is happening in slow motion and its impact will be painful.

‘If the world’s largest trading bloc gives up on the concept of free trade, the entire global economy will be hurt,’ the news website suggested.

Europe First

Analysing Ursula von der Leyen’s critical speech in Bruges last Sunday, the portal expressed conviction that a new era is beginning within the EU. ‘The new assertive industrial policy of our competitors requires a structural answer,’ POLITICO quoted Von der Leyen.

‘Of course, Europe will always do what is right for Europe,’

she added.

According to POLITICO, Von der Leyen was referring to growing calls from Paris and Washington for more strategic autonomy or stringent export restrictions, which earlier were dismissed by the European Commission. The portal explained that the EU seems to have lost the free trade competition to America and China.

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