Hogan warns that Europe is confronted with range of unprecedented policy challenges

LONDON, 15th January 2020 – The European Trade Commissioner will address Global Counsel’s “Politics of Trade” conference at the Royal Society of Arts in London. Speaking in advance of the event, Commissioner Hogan said: “As the new decade dawns Europe is confronted with a range of trade policy challenges, some of which are totally without precedent. Trade in both services and goods has the potential to be transformed by technology.”

Speaking from Washington DC as he undertakes his first set of major trade negotiations with the US Government, Commissioner Hogan continued: “In an increasingly challenging world, we have to defend our interests while standing up for fair, sustainable and rules-based trade. We also have to do much more on the communication front to improve public opinion about our trade agenda.” Commissioner Hogan will be interviewed via a live video-link from Washington by Peter Mandelson, chairman of Global Counsel, in the closing session of the conference.

The Politics of Trade conference brings together leading policymakers, corporate leaders and trade policy experts to consider how the current disruption in global trade policy is impacting on the distribution of goods and services across the globe. The conference’s convener, Stephen Adams, senior director at Global Counsel said: “Decisions made in Washington, Beijing and Brussels are already impacting on global supply chains. But this is more than a question of politics. Technology is transforming the reach of e-commerce and communications have driven big changes in cross-border trade in services.”

The conference will include sessions looking at the impact of trade on climate change, the globalisation of services, the impact of digital platforms on global trade and ongoing attempts to reform the WTO.

Other speakers at the event include:

• Julian Braithwaite, UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN and the WTO
• Victoria Nuland, Senior Counsellor at Albridge Stonebridge and previously US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in the Obama administration
• Frank Heemskerk, Director of the European Round Table for Industry and previously Dutch Trade Minister

ENDS