Stockholm Free World Forum hosted a roundtable discussion on the future of global free trade. Discussion centered on how the EU should navigate the shifting geoeconomic and trade policy landscape. With the US administration’s threats of tariffs and other protectionist measures, debate has intensified around various trade policy maneuvers. Panelists discussed if there could be an opportunity for the EU to lead on international trade issues.
Panelists included Gunnar Hökmark, Chairman of Stockholm Free World Forum; Stefan Fölster, Senior Fellow at Stockholm Free World Forum; and Johan Norberg, author, liberal commentator, and Senior Fellow at both the Cato Institute and the European Center for International Political Economy.
Stockholm Free World Forum has been a leading voice in policy debates on geoeconomics and trade. In recent weeks, Gunnar Hökmark wrote in Dagens Nyheter about “Europe needing to go on the trade policy offensive” (in Swedish).
Stefan Fölster released the new report, “Draghi Misses an Opportunity” on EU tech policy and innovation.
And Johan Norberg analyzed the decisive role of free trade in ensuring economic health at Säkerhetsrådet (in Swedish).
Later addition:
Frivärld’s chairman Gunnar Hökmark has remained active in the debate in favor of free trade and against trade tariffs. He has written in Dagens industri about how knowledge and trade are a path to geopolitical strength for the EU. In Europaportalen, he has written about the damage that the introduction of tariffs entails, while also emphasizing that the EU should develop and strengthen its trade relations with the rest of the world.