Seminar – EU Economic Security Strategy: Contextualising the EU’s Security Narrative

This seminar will address the EU’s economic security narrative: how the concept of economic security has been claimed and shaped in the US, how the claims of economic security have been received in China, and what this means for the EU’s economic security strategy.

In January 2024, the European Commission released a ‘comprehensive trade, investment, and research package’ on the EU’s Economic Security. This package is part of the steps to implement the European Economic Security Strategy announced in 2023. According to the Commission, the Union’s economic security is facing multitudes of ‘risks’ due to increasing geopolitical tensions. In order to counter risks, the Commission tries to mobilise, not only governments and large companies, but also small and medium-sized companies, universities, and researchers therein. These public and private actors are expected to be much more aware of risks and take actions as part of the apparatus of the strategy. Yet many fundamental questions remain: where exactly does the EU’s trade and investment meet with ‘security’, who constructs ‘security’, what are risk assessment parameters, and, most importantly, what safeguards are available to prevent detrimental consequences?

In this seminar, we will contextualise the EU’s economic security narrative. We will do so by discussing how the concept of economic security has been claimed and shaped in the US. We will also discuss how the claims of economic security have been received in China, and what this means for the EU’s economic security strategy.

Programme