The Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe (RENFORCE)’s building block on EU values in International Trade is organizing the third edition of its annual informal workshop on EU trade and investment policy, to take place on Friday, 6 December 2024. Building on earlier editions on the trade-security nexus (2022) and the unilateral turn in EU trade and investment policy (2023), we are inviting scholars to submit abstracts on issues connected to the role of ‘economic security’ in EU trade and investment policy.
Economic security has taken centre stage in the European Commission’s trade strategy. In July 2023, the Commission adopted an ‘economic security strategy’, and in January 2024 it launched its ‘economic security package’ in which it proposed, among other things, significant reforms to the Foreign Direct Investment Regulation. The blurring of trade and security has been visible in many corners of EU trade policy, ranging from the FDI Screening Regulation, over the Anti-Coercion Instrument to the EU’s export control rules on dual-use items and their application to EU-based research organisations. These are also intertwined with the EU’s extensive use of economic sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Economic security can be examined from various angles and through different disciplinary lenses. We invite scholars in the fields of law, political science, economics, international relations, history, etc. to submit abstracts (max. 500 words) by Friday, 27 September 2024 to Thomas Verellen [email protected].
We particularly welcome abstracts that question the concept of economic security and the role it plays in discourses within the EU trade law/policy epistemic communities, or that engage with the repercussions of the EU’s economic security agenda on non-trade related constitutional values such as the rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy. Interrogations on the legality of EU trade instruments and their application under international (economic) law principles, or historical or comparative analyses that aim to uncover the drivers and core features of economic security narratives across time and place are also very much welcomed.
We invite contributions by researchers at all career stages. To discuss and debate work in progress, the workshop will be held in a closed format. Participants will be expected to submit a paper by Monday, 25 November 2024 (max. 10 000 words) and will receive feedback on their work from experts in the field based in Utrecht and elsewhere. Selected participants will have the opportunity to submit their final papers for publication in a special issue of the Utrecht Law Review.
We may be able to offer limited financial support for travel and lodging. Please indicate in your submission whether you would like to benefit from this.