EU: a review of EU trade policy to make it an instrument for promoting social and environmental standards

Often more royal than a monarch, the EU has long been unconcerned about the reality of the competition conditions being practised by its trading partners, in the name of a well-established free trade rhetoric that rejects anything resembling protectionism. However, in recent years it has changed direction, and one which it has undertaken to further by placing greater emphasis on ‘the contribution of trade policy to major global challenges such as climate change, sustainable development and the digital transition’. On 17 June, the EU Commission launched a public consultation to review its trade policy, particularly in the light of this new objective.