Report on the First CELIS NOW Conference ‘The Age of Open Strategic Autonomy’

Abstract

On 11–13 May 2023, the CELIS Institute’s Early-Career Scholars’ and Practitioners’ Network on the Law and Practice of Economic Warfare (CELIS NOW) organized its first conference on ‘The Age of Open Strategic Autonomy’ in Berlin, Germany. This new network is designed to provide its members with a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and engage with the growing community of scholars and practitioners interested in investment and trade law in this changing geo-economic world. The CELIS Institute is an independent non-profit, non-partisan research enterprise dedicated to promoting better regulation of foreign investments in the context of security, public order, and competitiveness. CELIS NOW was established by Jonas Fechter (University of Münster) and Janosch Wiesenthal (University of Passau) in 2022, in order to create a forum for early-career lawyers in the field of trade and investment law. Since then, CELIS NOW has grown in size. At this first conference, about 40 lawyers who are professionally engaged with geo-economic trends gathered in Berlin to exchange ideas related to the emerging doctrine of Open Strategic Autonomy. The conference was generously supported by BLOMSTEIN and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. This report summarizes the conference proceedings. Open Strategic Autonomy, Economic Warfare, Economic Security, Geo-Economics, Investment Law, Trade Law, Investment Screening, Foreign Subsidies, Anti-Coercion Instrument