Riders on the storm: EU external relations in an age of American hesitation

After Trump’s ascent to power in the U.S., European leaders struggled to understand and accept the foreign policy strategies of the American administration. Particularly during the first half of 2018, the President’s flagrant attacks on multilateral cooperation created considerable doubts about the U.S.’ role in the world. In response, several argued that it was time for the EU could assume leadership to become the prime defender of the liberal international order. With President Biden now in power, American foreign policy is likely to change yet again. Using trade policy as a case, we ask the question: Does the EU change its policy as a result of this shifts in global authority, and if so, how? There is an extensive debate about what characterizes EU external relations, and several concepts have been launched to describe its distinct normative disposition. Building on Gourevitch’s ‘second-image reversed’-concept (1978), the EU’s hitherto norm-based foreign policy can be understood as the results of a particular international context where the transatlantic alliance has been a mainstay. Seen from this perspective, it is plausible that the recurrent shifts in global authority could lead to a redefinition of the rationales and reasons shaping EU trade policy.