The end of 2020 seems to have marked the closure of a cycle of political turbulence that started in 2016 with the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. The European Union, which could have emerged from this period in a much weakened condition, has instead been strengthened, having established a clear long-term project for European societies and for Europe’s place in the world: the Green Deal. While the Covid-19 health crisis has frustrated the hopes and expectations of 2020, which was due to be a year of major momentum for environmental multilateralism, the coming year gathers opportunities brought by the Green Deal for an ambitious ecological transition and renewal of the globalisation, but also geopolitical challenges. France, which will hold the EU presidency at the start of 2022, will have to contribute to the diplomatic resolution of several of these key issues, in close alignment with the 2021 Portuguese and Slovenian presidencies and in coordination with Germany, whose presidency has just ended, particularly on the issue of trade where it has sought to bring about change.

 

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This publication first appeared on the IDDRI site. 

Author: Sébastien Treyer, Executive Director, IDDRI. 

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash.

The views are those of the author and not necessarily those of ETTG.