The ideal functioning regulatory framework for international economic relations would be to transfer the key elements of a social market economy oriented to sustainability to the global level.
The German economy is largely dependent on unimpeded access to foreign markets. Trade liberalisation and investment protection are therefore primary concerns of German industry.
But multilateral regimes remain the ideal instrument. That is why the negotiation of such agreements within WTO is so extremely important.
For as long as the WTO negotiations are stalled, however, efforts must be made to advance trade liberalisation and investment protection through bilateral agreements.
In this context, it is important for German industry that these agreements are guided primarily by economic concerns; they must not merely be a reflection of political concerns.
As far as the German business community is concerned, the priority is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), because it offers not only the likelihood of substantial gains in prosperity, but also the opportunity to define the highest standards for market access and investment protection, which might then become universally binding.
However, industry's need for security does not stop at investment protection; it also includes intellectual property rights, protection against cyber attacks, secure access to raw materials and the protection of logistical and supply chains.
The crisis in Crimea and the territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas have made it clear how fragile and how prone to political conflict some foreign markets and regions are which are very important for German business. Ensuring their stability and resolving conflicts peacefully is therefore of the utmost importance.
The German economy's dependence on foreign trade and investment is the reason for its great keenness to have in place a functioning regulatory framework for international economic relations. The ideal would be to transfer the key elements of a social market economy oriented to sustainability to the global level.
Unrealistic as this may be in the foreseeable future, German policymakers nonetheless need to focus their global governance efforts on this goal. This means in particular: fair competition through labour and environmental protection standards which are as universal as possible, and curbing government influence on the functioning of global markets, particularly in the raw materials sector.
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