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When Foreign Policy Becomes Trade Policy: The EU's Anti‐Coercion Instrument

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  • Christian Freudlsperger
  • Sophie Meunier

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has taken a geoeconomic turn since 2017 by creating a series of new unilateral instruments designed to preserve European autonomy and adjust to the progressive unravelling of the liberal international economic order. The most controversial of these instruments is the 2023 Anti‐Coercion Instrument (ACI), designed to deter third countries from targeting the EU and its member states with economic coercion through measures affecting trade or investment. This article analyses why this new policy instrument was created, traces its institutional genesis and explores its implications by asking whether the ACI represents an intentional attempt to transform the foreign policy issue of coercion into a commercial one. Using process tracing based on interviews and primary and secondary materials, we argue that ‘foreign policy becoming trade policy’ through the ACI was an unintended consequence both of external pressures to institutionalise the trade–security nexus and of the EU's uneven internal competence base.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Freudlsperger & Sophie Meunier, 2024. "When Foreign Policy Becomes Trade Policy: The EU's Anti‐Coercion Instrument," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 1063-1079, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:62:y:2024:i:4:p:1063-1079
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13593
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sandra Eckert, 2024. "Business Power and the Geoeconomic Turn in the Single European Market," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 973-992, July.
    2. Mai'a K. Davis Cross & Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski & Mitchell A. Orenstein & R. Daniel Kelemen, 2017. "Trojan Horses in EU Foreign Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 87-102, January.
    3. Sarah Bauerle Danzman & Sophie Meunier, 2023. "Naïve no more: Foreign direct investment screening in the European Union," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(S3), pages 40-53, July.
    4. Sophie Meunier & Kalypso Nicolaidis, 2019. "The Geopoliticization of European Trade and Investment Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(S1), pages 103-113, September.
    5. Ana E. Juncos & Sophie Vanhoonacker, 2024. "The Ideational Power of Strategic Autonomy in EU Security and External Economic Policies," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 955-972, July.
    6. Andrea Christou & Chad Damro, 2024. "Frames and Issue Linkage: EU Trade Policy in the Geoeconomic Turn," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 1080-1096, July.
    7. Sophie Meunier, 2017. "Integration by Stealth: How the European Union Gained Competence over Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 593-610, May.
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    1. Ana E. Juncos & Sophie Vanhoonacker, 2024. "The Ideational Power of Strategic Autonomy in EU Security and External Economic Policies," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 955-972, July.
    2. Andrea Christou & Chad Damro, 2024. "Frames and Issue Linkage: EU Trade Policy in the Geoeconomic Turn," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 1080-1096, July.

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