THE 2021 EU TRADE POLICY REVIEW: SHIFT IN TRADE STRATEGY AND NEW INITIATIVES

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore whether the European Union (EU) has adapted its trade strategy to the emerging needs and challenges in the post-pandemic era. Comparing the EU’s new trade strategy document ‘Trade Policy Review’ with the previous one ‘Trade for All’, the study demonstrates that the EU reformulated its trade strategy to tackle the present challenges. Using text mining techniques with R programming language, two trade strategy documents were analyzed separately and comparatively. The findings reveal that the priorities of the current trade agenda are economy, sustainability, and global actions. Compared with the previous document, the emphasis on sustainability and digitalization is much stronger in the Trade Policy Review. Besides, resilience and transition seem to be relatively new areas of focus.