The European Union’s Raw Materials Diplomacy: Market Access and Development?

Abstract

Raw materials diplomacy is the new flagship of the European Union’s (EU) international economic presence located between industry, trade, and development. Being part of the EU’s economic diplomacy, its policies are mainly derived from the EU’s new trade strategy from 2006. Set up in 2008, its main goal has been to secure undistorted and free market access for resources. It was initiated as a response to the resource boom of the last decade with rising raw materials prices and growing competition on resources by state actors and multinational state-controlled enterprises from resource-rich countries. This article explores the factors shaping this new policy and aims to answer several questions: What are its main drivers? How coherent is the EU’s raw materials diplomacy with regard to the Lisbon Treaty’s objectives on development policy? Finally, how effective is the EU’s raw materials diplomacy? The article concludes that the EU mainly wants to protect the liberal trading regime of the post-cold war order, although goals of sustainability and development are receiving more attention due to societal pressure.