Geoeconomic Competition – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti engages with Alicia Garcia-Herrero, Senior Fellow at Bruegel and Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. The episode focuses on the Third Plenum and on the implications its outcomes (if any) may have for European businesses.

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti engages with Dr Mona Paulsen, Assistant Professor in International Economic Law at the London School of Economics (LSE). Starting from her article titled The Past, Present and Potential of Economic Security, the episode looks at the history of economic security to show that economic security is not an exceptional state of the globalised economy nor should it be treated as something exceptional in the policymaking of governments.

In the first episode of the series on industrial policies, Francesca is joined by Simone Tagliapietra, Senior fellow at Bruegel and Professor of Energy, Climate and Environmental Policy at the Catholic University of Milan and at The Johns Hopkins University - School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Europe. In the episode, Simone explains why it is vital for the EU to get the green tech ‘revolution’ right. To do so, the episode addresses the EU’s approach to the green transition, the role of industrial policy and investments in green technologies. Particular attention is paid to the debate on the balance between the EU’s liberal approach and the emerging interventionist trend. 

On the 23rd of February, the EU adopted the 13th package of sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti engages with Maria Shagina, Senior Fellow in Economic Sanctions, Standards and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).  Maria introduces seven lessons to be learned from the sanctions imposed on Russia in the past two years: 1. understand your target well; 2. understand the limitation of sanctions in a military conflict; 3. clarify objective and end game; 4. foster international cooperation, 5. increase domestic resilience, 6. understand the response from the target and 7. enforcement. The episode also touches upon the difficulty of sanctioning actors like China and on the perennial debate over the efficacy of sanctions. 

Articles referenced in the podcast can be found here: 

https://www.ft.com/content/4ac30222-2d15-4d4a-a025-9e5793157610

https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/coercing-constraining-signalling-explaining-un-and-eu-sanctions-a 

Japan has been one of the first countries to adopt a policy for economy security, the Economic Security Promotion Act, and to appoint a Minister for Economic Security. In this episode, I have the pleasure to chat with Kazuto Suzuki, Director & Group Head, Economic Security at the Institute of Geoeconomics in Tokyo. This episode's content spans from Japan's own experience with economic security, and the country's ability to use economic security to promote the flourishing of a semiconductor industry, to the possibility for collaboration with the EU to safeguard a rules-based international system. Finally, it touches upon the G7; the attention to economic security that Japan's Presidency paid in 2023 and where the Italian Presidency in 2024 could consolidate and strengthen the G7 economic security agenda.

On the 30th and 31st of January, the US and the EU held the 5th Ministerial meeting on the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Washington DC. In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti engages with Emily Benson Director of Project on Trade and Technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The episode touches upon the origins and evolution of the TTC, including opportunities and challenges it faces. It dives into the most recent Ministerial meeting and some of the debates that have emerged such as a potential Wassenaar -1 for export controls.

On the 24th of January the European Commission published a package of five initiatives on economic security. The package includes a proposal for a new regulation for foreign investment screening, a white paper on export controls, a white paper on outbound investments, a white paper on the support for research and development in dual-use technologies, and a proposal on enhancing research security. The guest of this episode is Tobias Gehrke, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and an expert in European economic security, with him we will explore the evolution of the EU's economic security agenda and its challenges. 

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti engages with Jonathan Hackenbroich from the European Commission - DG Trade to discuss how the EU economic security strategy has performed from the perspective of one of the main DGs involved in its design and implementation.

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti engages with Elvire Fabry and Nicolas Koehler-Suzuki to discuss how the EU economic security strategy has performed in its first year compared to the economic security approaches of other actors.

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti discusses the EU's vulnerabilities - real and only perceived - with Luke Patey, Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). The episode starts with critical minerals and then expands to other sectors to build the argument that the EU is less vulnerable to China than it thinks.