◄ GLOBAL GATEWAY
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The European Commission and the EU High Representative have set out the Global Gateway, a new European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. The Global Gateway stands for sustainable and trusted connections that work for people and the planet. It helps to tackle the most pressing global challenges, from fighting climate change, to improving health systems, and boosting competitiveness and security of global supply chains.

 

The Global Gateway Initiative is a worldwide strategy by the European Union to invest in infrastructure projects worldwide. The project was initiated by the EU Commission. Over the period 2021–2027, the EU will invest €300 billion. Investment into Africa is the regional priority of the initiative, as half the funds are allocated to projects to improve the green transition, digital transition, sustainable economic growth, health care and education in Africa.

The initiative is seen as an alternative or rivalry to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, which EU leaders heavily criticised because of human rights abuse concerns and economic risks, disadvantages and a one-sided trade relation.] The EU wants to encourage links, and not dependencies, As of December 2022, Global Gateway has been criticized for failing to provide concrete details on projects and drawing heavily on already-existing programmes.

 

  Disentangling Global Gateway: from Team Europe to the World
SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

Global Gateway is (or rather should be) a geostrategic tool to establish eye-to-eye partnership with countries, leveraging on the comparative advantage of the EU: its economic power. There is agreement on the urgency and need to create an attractive and sustainable financial ecosystem where the public and private sector are working in synchro. But how to get there? Getting it right, though, is an insurance on the sustainability of EU’s global influence. Over the course of 2024, the CEPS Global Gateway Task Force aims to:

  • Disentangle challenges of Team Europe’s buy-in to the Global Gateway strategy;
  • Clarify the course of engagement with international partners;
  • Enhance complementarity with other global connectivity initiatives
TOPICS

To this end, the Task Force outlines the following core issues to be addressed.

I. TEAM EUROPE ENGAGEMENT IN GLOBAL GATEWAY

Team Europe engagement is still uneven across sectors, stakeholders, geographies and Member States. To unpack this core issue, guiding questions include:

  • What’s the added value of being part of Global Gateway initiative for a big company? How can MSMEs contribute to the initiative? What’s the added value for development agencies on cooperating with fellow agencies?
  • What are the main political and practical stumbling blocks for the digital sector, climate and energy and transport, trade and supply chain sustainability preventing wider Team Europe engagement?
  • How to achieve an equilibrium between various interests within Team Europe on one hand, and good project and investment governance on the other, including sufficient space for civil society?

II. GLOBAL GATEWAY ENGAGEMENT WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS

Though the perspective of eye-to-eye partnerships and investment into strategic infrastructure is attractive to our international partners, both the communication and implementation of Global Gateway “offer” should be improved:

  • Cooperation with like-minded partners: how to go from like-mindedness to concrete cooperation for complementary connectivity investments?
  • What are the stumbling blocks for the digital sector, climate and energy and transport, trade, and supply chain sustainability and how to overcome them?
  • What’s Global Gateway’s added value? Why should countries choose Global Gateway over the competition? What if they don’t want to choose?How to showcase Global Gateway’s value proposition during implementation?

III. CASE STUDIES: GLOBAL GATEWAY IN PRACTICE

As Global Gateway operates in different geographies, geopolitical contexts, as well as across sectors and types of infrastructure, its initiatives require a coherent approach that integrates diverse policy challenges and interests. Based on CEPS in-house research as well as sponsor’s priorities, the Task Force can produce up to three case studies for considerations on how implementation in the ground can be improved. Examples of possible case studies under discussion can include

  • The India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC)
  • EU-Japan-India connectivity triangulation

METHODOLOGY

This Task Force is a structured dialogue among national and EU policymakers, industry representatives, practitioners, and civil society actors/NGOs, who are brought together over several meetings to discuss in concrete terms how to maximize the contribution to Global Gateway. The concrete outcome of the Task force will be elaborated in a Task Force Report drafted by the research team.

This CEPS Task Force is structured around two closed-door hybrid workshops that will be held at CEPS premises (and online). Case studies can also be developed. A final public event will present the Task Force Report. The task force will take place in spring/summer 2024, while the public event will take place in the fall. Each workshop will be prepared by a one-page concept note shared with participants ahead of the meeting, outlining the key issues for discussion. Following each workshop, a short event report will be circulated to participants. The Task Force Report will elaborate on the workshop reports and provide consolidated recommendations.
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