How a strong EU can protect our citizens and companies better

The EU must protect our citizens and companies much more forcefully. On the Flemish news website demorgen.be, Flemish Minister-President Geert Bourgeois is already making a number of suggestions.

If there is something with which the whole world is struggling, it’s globalisation. It is with justification and good reason that it is the number one theme at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Violent protests by anti-globalists or alter-globalists have fortunately become rare, but today we are seeing protest and discontent that have globalisation as a deeper cause. Think of Brexit. Think of Donald Trump, his “America First” and his trade wars with China and the EU. Think of the “yellow vests” protesting against price rises that are part of the fight against climate change.

Yet globalisation has also created a great deal of welfare. That’s the reason why I remain a staunch defender of international trade, on condition that it takes place in a fair and reciprocal manner, according to the rules of the World Trade Organization and in compliance with ethical, social and environmental standards. Especially for Flanders, one of the most open economies in the world, international trade is crucial in order to reinforce our welfare. In Davos, in the space of a few days, I can meet with tens of international business leaders and key political figures and point out the major advantages of Flanders for international investments to them. Especially in times of Brexit, trade conflicts, looming isolationism and protectionism, we need more international trade that takes place both freely and fairly. So I am calling on the EU to accelerate its actions regarding additional trade agreements with among others Vietnam, Australia, Singapore and the Mercosur countries (editor’s note: these are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela). New markets can help to offset some of the consequences of Brexit.

However, I am not blind to the disadvantages of globalisation. The elite in the West have brushed them under the carpet for far too long. Let us take the concerns of our citizens and companies seriously, including those with which we do not agree. Let us above all try to find answers to those concerns.

Stronger protection

Turning back globalisation is a losing battle and risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We do however have to temper the negative consequences better. In this regard there is an important task for the European Union. Modesty is the order of the day: Flanders (and Belgium too) is much too small to be able to steer global problems like these in the right direction. Even big countries like France, the United Kingdom and Germany do not have sufficient weight individually (they apparently just don’t all seem to realise this equally well yet). The EU on the other hand does have sufficient scale to play a meaningful role, but then it must do so with a sharp focus. The EU must protect our citizens and companies much more forcefully.