Blog post 245
Greening EU trade policy – 2 :
the economics of trade and environment
This note is the second in a series of publications that the Jacques Delors Institute has undertaken with the support of the European Climate Foundation in order to explore the inevitable changes in EU trade policy following the European elections last May. Inevitably, trade policy in the upcoming years and beyond will have to find its place in Europe’s new “green deal”, which was recently announced by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the new European Commission.
The results of the special Eurobarometer survey on Europeans’ attitudes on trade and EU trade policy published in November (2019) also confirm the relevance of this research nexus. In the study, citizens attribute the protection of European environmental and health standards as the second highest priority in trade policy.
The first note was intended to lay out a general overview of the problems to be solved and the possible solutions available. In comparison, this note seeks to better describe the theses put forward by various schools of economics on the effects, more or less positive or negative, of the opening up of trade on the environment, mainly from a climate mitigation point of view.
It concludes that international trade, whose impact is still being debated, is not likely the essential variable for the necessary decarbonisation of the European economy, even if trade policy must make a contribution to this major undertaking.
The preservation of our natural resources, as well as the fight against inequalities will require a real paradigm shift and far-reaching reforms aimed at our modes of production and consumption. Trade must accompany, facilitate and accelerate this change. Other upcoming publications in this series will address the ways and means of this necessary trade policy contribution: ambitious standards and their application to imported products and/or carbon adjustments at the border, reforms of the WTO’s multilateral framework, new-generation bilateral trade treaties, etc.
SUR LE MÊME THÈME
ON THE SAME THEME
PUBLICATIONS
EU and China between De-Risking and Cooperation: Scenarios by 2035
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/rapportbleu.png)
Mapping the EU’s digital trade
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/policypaperbleu.png)
[FR] France’s energy future
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/blogpostbleu.png)
MÉDIAS
MEDIAS
L’actualité littéraire – Souveraineté et solidarité, un défi européen
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
L’OMC, paralysée, joue son avenir à Genève
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
N.Gnesotto – “Quel impact de l’affaire des sous-marins australiens ?”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
L’acier et l’aluminium réchauffent les relations transatlantiques
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Accès aux marchés publics : comment l’Europe veut riposter face à la Chine
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Mondialisation, Chine… comment l’équilibre du monde a basculé depuis 30 ans
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
France eyes big leap to join Germans in trade surplus club
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pénuries : l’épine dans le pied de la reprise mondiale
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Tournant entre l’Europe et les Etats-Unis sur le conflit des avionneurs
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
La détente commerciale entre Europe et Etats-Unis reste fragile
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Les Européens et Joe Biden veulent enterrer la hache de guerre commerciale
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Un rapprochement UE-États-Unis par l’exemple
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
EU must sharpen its focus on innovation to address climate change
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/tribunebleu.png)
Ce que disent les sondages sur le rapport des Français à l’environnement
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Sommet climat de Biden: le bon élève européen veut peser dans le concert mondial
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
European-style carbon taxes destined to spread, says former trade chief
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
L’Europe peut-elle mener la lutte contre le changement climatique ?
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Vaccins anti-COVID : l’Europe durcit le ton
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Quels plans de relance pour sauver l’économie mondiale?
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Expertos ven un continuismo reformista en la política de Biden hacia la UE
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
«L’UE sera plus offensive sur ses valeurs et plus défensive sur ses intérêts»
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Verdir la mondialisation: un défi de taille pour l’UE
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Europe, une nouvelle politique commerciale
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/vidéobleu.png)
Morning Trade: Mixed or not — Trade policy review
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Les messages d’adieu de Michel Barnier à l’Union européenne
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, première femme à la tête de l’OMC
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
La Nigériane Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala devient la première femme et la première Africaine à la tête de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Brexit – Rendez-vous avec Bernard Volker
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/vidéobleu.png)
La Nigériane Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, seule en lice à l’OMC
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Inside the Brexit deal: the agreement and the aftermath
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Le Royaume-Uni se fixe un nouvel objectif ambitieux de réduction de 68% de ses émissions d’ici 2030
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Donald Trump n’a pas réussi sa guerre commerciale
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Guerre commerciale : l’Europe s’arme enfin
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Accord de Paris : ces deux années où tout a changé
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Accord de Paris : ces deux années où tout a changé
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Biden ne va pas manipuler l’arme tarifaire comme Donald Trump
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Présidentielle américaine: pas de changement de fond attendu sur le front commercial
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Peut-on réformer l’Organisation mondiale du commerce?
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
La fin de l’interminable feuilleton des subventions pour Airbus et Boeing
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Any Question’s
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Can the coronavirus bring back Europe’s pharmaceutical factories?
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Commerce : Roberto Azevedo quitte la direction d’une OMC en crise
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
L’UE veut protéger son marché des appétits chinois
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Bâtiments, économie circulaire, tourisme côtier… Les secteurs clés pour une relance verte en Europe
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Greener After EU Recovery plan: big, targeted, green
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Le nouveau visage de la mondialisation après la pandémie
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“La construction européenne sortira de cette crise, ou bien renforcée, ou bien affaiblie.”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Démondialisation ? « ‘précautionnisme’ plutôt que ‘protectionnisme’»
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Je ne crois pas à la déglobalisation”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
L’UE face au miroir, entre défis internes et externes – interview avec Enrico Letta
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Donald Trump’s policies on trade do not work
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
EU Green Deal ‘hangs on social justice and innovation’ warns think-tank
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Nueva cuenta atrás para evitar una ruptura caótica
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
«Sur la sortie juridique du R-U, l’épreuve de force avec l’UE ne fait que commencer»
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Europe Is the New Front in Trump’s Trade War
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Côté américain, comme côté européen, on pratique les subventions depuis longtemps”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Nouvelle phase du Brexit : “il n’y a pas de stratégie claire derrière”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Brexit, “On en est qu’au début..”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Le commerce international doit valoriser une économie qui protège les ressources naturelles”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
« À l’heure de la connectivité mondiale [..] plus de régulation multilatérale » est nécessaire
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Organe d’appel de l’OMC : « Ce système permet d’éviter le far west commercial »
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“The WTO needs both its legs, litigation and negotiation”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“La transition énergétique ne coûte guère plus cher que le maintien du système actuel”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Brexit : « D’après la déclaration politique on sent [..] une volonté de divergence importante avec l’Europe »
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Pour l’UE, il s’agit […] d’empêcher un retour au Far West du commerce international”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Les États-Unis ont une main très tendue vers Londres pour un rapprochement rapide”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“the UK-EU trade deal will not be an ordinary one”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Boris Johnson « ne veut pas laisser le temps qui faut pour relancer encore le débat au sein des parlementaires »
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“C’est très important qu’Emmanuel Macron s’engage lui-même”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Il faut “avant tout qu’on soit dans l’Europe en se sentant européens”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Augmenter les dépenses publiques pour le climat”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Aujourd’hui, le défi américain c’est de vouloir, non seulement contenir la puissance de la Chine, mais au contraire la repousser”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Derrière l’affaire Airbus, la guerre commerciale américano-européenne
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Les États-Unis prêts à taxer les produits européens
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Conflit Airbus/Boeing : “Une absurdité”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“L’Europe est une construction politique extrêmement ambitieuse”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Matteo Renzi a commis une faute qui va mettre la coalition italienne sous tension”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Il faut aller plus loin et faire de l’accord de Paris une clause essentielle”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Guerre commerciale : « L’Europe peut encore peser »
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/tribunebleu.png)
“Les taxes américaines couvrent désormais la quasi-totalité des importations chinoises”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
The Brussels Briefing of the Financial Times has taken a look at some of our ideas for the new European Commission
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
The G7 summit gets underway in France
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy “very worried” Japan is using trade to address an essentially “political problem” of colonial reparation.
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Mercosur : Pascal Lamy répond à l’édito de Pascal Riché
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/tribunebleu.png)
Des pistes pour verdir le commerce mondial
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
La mondialisation économique est-elle inéluctable ?
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Accords Mercosur et Ceta
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Le nouveau traité de libre-échange transatlantique, déjà mort-né…
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
« Mettre le commerce au service de l’environnement »
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Le Mercosur va empêcher M. Bolsonaro de déforester l’Amazonie”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
La France a protégé l’Antarctique pendant la guerre froide. Et doit continuer à le faire
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Le double vote en faveur des libéraux et des Verts paraît témoigner d’un désir de nouveauté politique”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
“Europe’s trade policy needs to get greener”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
EU horse-trading goes green
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy : « Quand on perd du poids, il faut gagner du muscle »
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
L’écologie s’est imposée au cœur de la campagne des élections européennes
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Elections Could Fracture EU Environment, Climate Policy Blocs
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Européennes : le programme écolo de six candidats
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Climate change will be key issue in EU elections, poll shows
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Non aux subventions conduisant à la surpêche !
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/tribunebleu.png)
“Il est trop tôt pour juger si les turbulences que connait le commerce mondial sont l’amorce d’un changement d’un modèle”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
China – US trade policy briefing
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Pascal Lamy invited on l’heure H on BFM : what place for Europe between sino-american tensions ?
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/vidéobleu.png)
Thomas Pellerin-Carlin at Toute l’Europe : changement climatique, l’Europe est-elle à la hauteur ?
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy on Reuters News: “the overall consensus that globalisation is the way to go is somehow fractured”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Marie-Hélène Bérard presents “L’Europe face aux sanctions américaines, quelle souveraineté pour l’Europe ?” on BFM Business
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
ENABLE.EU, partner of the Jacques Delors Institute, publishes it’s October newsletter
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/tribunebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy to El Pais: “Tenemos que proteger más al individuo y menos el empleo”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy in Le Monde on a possible European answer to american extraterritoriality
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy in El Pais : “Los cambios siempre tienen riesgos enormes para algunos y oportunidades increíbles para otros”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy on CNBC : “WTO reform is now on the table”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Elvire Fabry : “If the appeal body is paralysed, WTO members will be free of multilateral rules.”
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Eulalia Rubio, senior researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute, debates on European economic governance on Radio Television Española
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/podcastbleu.png)
Mario Draghi on the single market and the eurozone : preaching in the desert
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)
Pascal Lamy and Geneviève Pons commit to the immediate protection of the Antarctic Ocean
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/tribunebleu.png)
Elvire Fabry on the trade war and the worries of European businesses
![](https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/themes/Avada-Child-Theme/images/articlebleu.png)