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The fight against corruption is a strong point for the NPP government. Economic relief remains a struggle.

The two British aircraft flew a 12-hour mission along the border with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In a rare mission, a Royal Air Force (RAF) RC-135W Rivet Joint electronic surveillance aircraft flew a 12-hour-long mission on Oct. 9, 2025, patrolling the entire border along NATO’s eastern flank and the Black Sea. An RAF P-8A Poseidon […]

By Thomas Conzelmann and Sophie Vanhoonacker (Maastricht University, The Netherlands)

Trade and foreign investment have become politicized in the current international system. The unilateral imposition of tariffs across the global economy by the second Trump administration is a good illustration: tariffs are not used to address unfair trade practices but as an instrument to exert political leverage and restructure international relationships. As a large, integrated and open market, the EU is clearly vulnerable to such actions. EU decision-makers have also increasingly become concerned about the takeover of European critical infrastructure and technology champions by third countries. Chinese investments in European ports are a key example. Both developments have led observers to speak of a “geo-economic world” in which the EU must defend its interests and its “economic security” (European Commission, 2024; Herranz-Surrallés et al., 2024).

How can the EU live up to the challenges of this geo-economic world? One response is the adoption of new EU policy instruments such as the EU Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) and the EU Investment Screening Framework (ISF). The ACI, also referred to as Europe’s ‘trade bazooka’ allows the EU to adopt punitive measures against countries attempting economic coercion. Commission President von der Leyen and French President Macron explicitly mentioned it as one of the European cards in reaction to Trump’s “Liberation Day”. To address vulnerabilities from foreign direct investment (FDI), the ISF establishes common standards and a procedure for the coordination of member state’s screening of FDI that may carry risks for public order and security. The instrument is currently under review (Doppen et al., 2024).

Existing research has studied the evolving discourse around the “economic security” of the EU and the potential effectiveness of new economic security instruments. However, little is known about the institutional consequences of this new development. What does it mean for the EU if the boundaries are blurred between its trade policy, with its strong role for the Commission, and its security policies, with the predominance of the Council? What is the role of the European Parliament? Is a new institutional balance emerging in this field and how can we explain it? These questions are the focus of our recently published research in the Journal of Common Market Studies. We address them by looking at the ACI and the ISF as two prominent new economic security instruments of the EU.

Is a new institutional balance emerging in the EU?

The EU’s institutional balance is an elusive concept. We use it as a descriptive term for the actual balance of powers between the EU institutions. Specifically, we discuss four analytical dimensions, which are the right of initiative, coordination procedures, decision-making, and implementation arrangements laid down in the ACI and the ISF. To assess whether a “new” balance is emerging through these new instruments, we use trade defense instruments under the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) and sanctions under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as benchmarks.

Our research shows that in both the ACI and the ISF the roles of Commission and Council overlap along all four analytical dimensions. In both instruments, the right of initiative is shared between the Commission and the member states, and both instruments foresee a close procedural cooperation between both sides. A good example of this is the ISF procedures, in which national authorizing bodies notify ongoing FDI screening cases to the Commission and must take comments by the Commission or other member states into account. When it comes to decision-making, both instruments rely on comitology, albeit with important inroads into Commission competences. In the ACI, a unique format has been agreed, in which the Council, through QMV, has to approve implementing decisions by the Commission. This extraordinary step was the outcome of intensive institutional haggling, and was accompanied by a declaration in which the Commission, the Council, and the EP underline their intention not to set a precedent with these arrangements. Finally, both procedures foresee a joint implementation of decision between the Commission and the member states. The role of the EP, which is a co-legislator in the area of trade, remains limited. Although it played an active role in the adoption of the new instruments, it did not seek to enhance its own role beyond that of being informed.

It is difficult to classify the emerging institutional arrangements in the ACI and ISF as clearly “intergovernmental” or “supranational”. Elements of centralization co-exist with pockets of national control and coordination requirements between the different levels. What we see is a hybrid between the procedures in trade defence and in sanctions respectively, leading to a new institutional balance in a field that will only grow in importance over the coming years.

Explaining the changing institutional balance

We show how these findings are the outcome of different factors. In both the ACI and the ISF, the Commission, the EP, and the member states defended their ‘institutional self-interests’. However, these logics intersected with two other developments. First, the member states in the Council were far from sharing a common position. In both cases, one group of member states pushed for joint gains through supranational coordination and credible deterrent instruments, while others prioritized sovereignty concerns. Second, the actors were clearly aware of the institutional experimentation process they had entered. Questions arose about the compatibility of the new instruments with international legal requirements and the consistency of the EU legal order. The “no precedent” declaration mentioned above that was issued together with the ACI is the clearest example of this.

Who are the winners?

Whether the new institutional balance is a victory for the Commission or for the Council depends on how we look at it. Using the CFSP as a benchmark, some observers see the ACI and the ISF as leading to a consolidation of power in Brussels. In their view, both allow the Commission, and to some extent the EP, to enter the security field, an area of Council competence (Freudlsperger et al., 2024; Vlasiuk Nibe et al., 2024). The new instruments are thus seen as a first step from which the Union can “fail forward” and establish more stringent regulation later (Jones et al. 2021). When taking the usual decision-making process under the CCP as benchmark, both the ACI and the ISF imply decreased powers of the Commission. The member states have made inroads into Commission implementing powers (ACI) and have preserved important national prerogatives (ISF). Our research shows that both these perspectives are one-sided. In reality, the ACI and the ISF are characterized by a complex form of collaboration which cannot be easily pigeonholed either as intergovernmental or supranational. With further economic security instruments currently under consideration (outbound investment, review of the dual-use goods regulation), more debates about the right institutional balance in this area will emerge in the coming years.

Thomas Conzelmann is Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University. His research focuses on the politics of leverage in global affairs and the EU’s policies in a geoeconomic world. https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/t-conzelmann

 

 

Sophie Vanhoonacker is Professor in Administrative Governance at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University. Her research focuses on the institutional aspects of EU External Relations and administrative governance in the area of foreign and security policy. https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/smrl-vanhoonacker

The post The European Union in a geo-economic world: Towards a new inter-institutional balance? appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

The joint U.S., British and Norwegian mission saw the A400M transporting a JLTV, simulating a NMESIS system, and infantry in the High North. The Royal Air Force (RAF) revealed on Oct. 9, 2025 a first-of-its-kind operation conducted in cooperation with the U.S. and Norway in late September. As part of the operation, an RAF A400M […]

Le nouveau Premier ministre Sébastien Lecornu doit former son gouvernement, alors que le temps presse et qu'il doit présenter un projet de budget. Les Républicains ont indiqué qu'ils n'y participeront pas, tout comme l'UDI. Plusieurs partis ont affirmé qu'ils le censureront, comme le Rassemblement national et La France insoumise. Les dernières informations avec Clovis Casali.

Le gouvernement malien réagit en qualifiant la décision des Etats-Unis d'"unilatérale".

Royal Marines took aim at the engine of a boat suspected of drug smuggling while flying in HMS Lancaster’s Wildcat helicopter over the Gulf of Oman. £35 million of drugs were subsequently seized. Three skiffs were first identified by the Wildcat helicopter’s crew after launching on an early morning patrol from Type 23 frigate HMS […]

Au surlendemain de la reconduction de Sébastien Lecornu à Matignon, l'incertitude plane toujours sur les perspectives de son gouvernement, dont la composition reste inconnue et qui peine à rallier des soutiens. Lundi est la date butoir officielle pour présenter un projet de budget en Conseil des ministres puis à l'Assemblée nationale. Les dernières informations avec Clovis Casali devant l'Hôtel de Matignon.

Les Israéliens et les Palestiniens veulent tous deux que la guerre cesse. Les Israéliens sont las de la guerre et les sondages montrent qu'une majorité d'entre eux souhaitent un accord qui permette de libérer les otages et de mettre fin à la guerre.

Selon une source proche de l'exécutif, le Premier ministre était à l'Élysée dimanche soir pour s'entretenir avec Emmanuel Macron laissant entrevoir une annonce imminente sur la composition d'un gouvernement déjà menacé par la censure de l'ensemble des partis de gauche, à l'exception du PS. 

Sur la Garonne et la Dordogne, surfeurs, kayakistes et autres sportifs viennent glisser sur la vague du Mascaret, un phénomène naturel se reproduisant au gré des marées. Il se traduit par une brusque surélévation de l'eau d'un fleuve ou d'un estuaire, provoqué par l'onde de la marée montante. Récit de M. Laforcade et D. Mazeres, nos collègues à France 2.

Le prix Bayeux 2025 a été décerné samedi dans la catégorie télévision format court au reportage de Julie Dungelhoeff, James André et Sofia Amara sur les rescapés de l'enfer des prisons syriennes. Diffusé sur France 24 en décembre, ce document exclusif montrait l'ampleur des exactions commises sous l'ère du clan Assad. Julie Dungelhoeff nous explique.

Ce 12 octobre 2025, plus de huit millions de Camerounais sont appelés aux urnes pour élire leur Président pour les sept prochaines années. Voici un guide pour comprendre tous les enjeux autour d’un scrutin décisif pour l'avenir de ce pays d'Afrique Centrale.

C’est un aspect du conflit ukrainien encore peu documenté. Les soldats russes, depuis bientôt quatre ans de guerre, ont multiplié les graffitis sur les murs des zones occupées. Wall Evidence, un collectif basé à Kiev, répertorie et classe les photos de ces graffitis, comme des pièces à conviction.

Au surlendemain de sa reconduction à Matignon, Sébastien Lecornu a présenté dimanche un gouvernement composé de membres de la "société civile", "de jeunes parlementaires" et de ministres déjà présents dans les gouvernements Bayrou ou Barnier. LFI et le RN ont promis de censurer le gouvernement.

Some question whether the 19th Century Afrikaner leader should still be memorialised.

- Agenda / France - Régions

CAOC Bodø was officially opened on Oct. 10, 2025, joining CAOC Uedem, Germany, and CAOC Torrejón, Spain as NATO’s third active Combined Air Operations Centre. Combined Air Operations Centres, or CAOCs – not to be confused with the U.S. Air Force’s 609th Air Operations Centre in Qatar, which is also known as the Combined Air […]

Un restaurant fondé par Radjaa Aboudagga, un Palestinien de Gaza, et Edgar Laloum, un Franco-Israélien, a ouvert ses portes samedi à Paris. Une inauguration qui tombe à point nommé alors que la paix semble à portée de main au Proche-Orient. Au menu : de délicieux mezze faits maison pour rapprocher les peuples.

Le Premier ministre hongrois a appelé ses concitoyens à signer une pétition contre un supposé « plan de guerre » de Bruxelles. Cela lui permet aussi de faire diversion après les révélations d’une affaire d’espionnage embarrassante pour la Hongrie.