Sustainable Globalisation: Lessons from Europe

Benoît CŒURÉ * President, Autorité de la concurrence (French Competition Authority). Contact : bureau.presidence@autoritedelaconcurrence.fr.This article is based on a presentation given on September 28, 2023, at the invitation of the Breizh Macro Club of the Economics Department of the University of Rennes, and the roundtable of the OECD Competition Committee on November 30, 2022. The author would like to thank Agnès Bénassy-Quéré for her comments. The opinions expressed in this article are his own.

The many concerns expressed by globalisation are coinciding with recent signs of deglobalisation. But many of these concerns are in fact political and economic fallacies. It is urgent to make globalisation sustainable, consequently more efficient, more enduring and more equitable. To achieve this, global markets must be underpinned by strong states and firm governance. On the economic side, a welfare bringing free trade requires that governments manage adequately its distributional, social and environmental consequences, Globally the European construction can be regarded as the most elaborate attempt ever to mitigate the inevitable political trade-offs arising in a globalised world. Its real success should be an example. Nevertheless its sustainability implies making it more enduring with a better control of financial flows and also more equitable. Finally, when heading for sustainable globalisation in Europe, the European voice must be heard in international bodies which shape international economic rules.