Global Getway Collection
In an evolving geopolitical landscape, the European Union is reshaping its approach to international engagement. Recent changes in EU leadership signal a significant shift towards a more assertive and strategic stance in foreign policy, particularly in the implementation of the Global Gateway initiative.
It stands at the forefront of this evolving strategy, representing a key tool in reshaping the EU’s global influence.
The EU’s Global Gateway initiative, launched in 2021, has taken on renewed significance in the current political climate and the mission letter sent by President von der Leyen to the designated Commissioner for International Partnerships. The Global Gateway aims to mobilise up to €300 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027. The stated goals of this ambitious program are to foster sustainable connections worldwide while promoting European values and interests.
Key Focus Areas of the Global Gateway
Strategic Autonomy
The EU is prioritising access to critical raw materials and new markets for European companies, emphasising economic resilience and reduced dependence on single suppliers.
Sustainable Development
While pursuing its economic and geopolitical interests, the EU remains committed to its sustainable development objectives, aiming to create a balance between these sometimes competing priorities.
Geopolitical Considerations
There's an apparent shift towards a more nuanced approach in relations with China and stronger ties with strategic partners, indicating a potential recalibration of EU partnerships.
Implementation Challenges
As the Global Gateway moves from concept to reality, questions arise about its practical implementation, funding mechanisms, and ability to compete with established initiatives.
By compiling expert analyses from across the ETTG network, we aim to provide critical context and diverse perspectives on one of the EU's most significant foreign policy initiatives in recent years.
These analyses serve as a vital resource for understanding:
The strategic implications of the EU's evolving approach to international partnerships
The potential impact of the Global Gateway on EU-China relations and global development
Opportunities and challenges in implementing the initiative across different regions
The balance between geopolitical interests and development cooperation objective
Global Gateway: Where now and where to next?
San Bilal and Chloe Teevan propose steps to give the Global Gateway strategy greater strategic direction and to reconcile EU interests and development goals. They argue that the EU should adopt a whole-of-government/EU approach to foster coherence between strategic and development objectives, and…
The Global Gateway at two: Implementing EU strategic ambitions
The Global Gateway, the EU’s global connectivity strategy, is two years old this week. Chloe Teevan and San Bilal look at how the strategy can make real progress towards operationalising a much-needed reorientation of EU international cooperation…
ETTG Blog: The Global Gateway Three Years Later – An African Reality Check for the Next Commission
The Global Gateway: juggling self-interest, geopolitical competition and developmental aspirations
Since its announcement in September 2021, the Global Gateway has gradually come to dominate the European Union (EU)’s external action and development policy discourse. First announced to the European Parliament in September 2021…
European Green and Digital Transitions in the Global Gateway
The Global Gateway investment programme, launched in December 2021, aims to build
connections between Europe and the rest of the world by financing infrastructure
projects. The Global Gateway’s …
Development impact in a geopolitical landscape: challenges and opportunities of Global Gateway
The aim of this brief is to explore the challenges and opportunities entailed in the Global Gateway initiative, partly designed as a response to China’s BRI in a geopolitical context. We also offer a series of recommendations in order to enhance…
The EU Global Gateway – One year in: How to partner with the private sector?
The Global Gateway was launched with great fanfare a year ago, on 1 December 2021, by the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. It is presented as a positive offer by the European Union (EU) to…
Euro–Mediterranean Economic Cooperation in the Age of Deglobalisation
Old wine in new bottles? China, the G7 and the new infrastructure geopolitics
Nearly a decade on, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has come to define China’s global development engagement. But as US and European relations with China deteriorate, the BRI – and infrastructure finance – have become focal points for geopolitical competition…
Strategic Security and Critical Raw Materials: The Role of the European Investment Bank
A secure supply of critical raw materials (CRMs) is crucial for the realisation of the European Union’s energy transition. To increase domestic production and diversify imports of these materials, the European Commission published its proposal for…
Development aid and geopolitics: the EU’s Global Gateway initiative
This Policy Paper analyses the EU’s Global Gateway initiative. Since this is a youthful programme still undergoing construction, the purpose of the exercise is to put forward recommendations for a design and execution…
Global Gateway: what we know and what it means for Latin America and the Caribbean
The Southernization of the EU’s Development Policy? A Critical Review of the EU Global Gateway
In December 2019, the newly elected European Commission (EU) President tasked one of her Commissioners to ensure that the EU’s approach to development cooperation would evolve in line with new global realities…
The Global Gateway: it’s not the money, it’s the strategy
Europe’s global gateway: a new geostrategic framework for development policy?
The proposal by the European Union (EU) to build a “Global Gateway” to the world is potentially an important juncture in EU foreign relations. Since its official launch in December 2021, most attention has been put on the initiative’s geostrategic implications…
The rise of the Team Europe approach in EU development cooperation: assessing a moving target
This paper analyses the European Union’s (EU) evolving motivations, priorities and current approaches to development cooperation under the label of “Team Europe”, following its introduction in April 2020 as the European Union’s…
