Fortress Europe

This report on “The risk of Rising Protectionism in Europe” is the first in a series that CMS will be publishing in conjunction with Oxford Analytica on topics that should be of interest and significance to all commercial enterprises operating in the important European market. The series will look at topics of particular interest or concern, analysing both the legal perspectives and their broader commercial, regulatory, fiscal and political aspects. "

"CMS has chosen Oxford Analytica as its partner for the proven quality of its research and analysis. We are confident that in doing so we will be able to publish a series of reports that will have the scope and rigour necessary to stimulate a healthy and productive debate within our clients' organisations and possibly more widely."
Cornelius Brandi , Chairman CMS Executive committee

The risks of greater European ‘investment protectionism‘ have, on the surface, increased significantly over the last year as awareness has deepened about the global investment activities of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) from outside the European Union. The common thread that runs through both the rhetoric and the practice of European governments is that some level of investment protectionism is warranted on ‘strategic‘ grounds. A separate but related issue is the risk of growing trade protectionism. There is a danger that pressure in Europe for trade protectionism will increase over the next year if economic conditions remain unfavourable, if the United States continues to back away from support for free trade, and if diplomatic tensions with Russia do not improve from their current poor level. The general outlook for deepening of multilateral trade relations is poor. In the aftermath of Doha, the whole future of multilateral trade rounds may be called into question.

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