Strategically, the Federal Foreign Office should seek to form alliances with states which fundamentally share Germany's ideas of the market and competition, with a view to enforcing them at international level.
Not all of these concerns of the German business sector fall primarily within the remit of the Federal Foreign Office (FFO). Nevertheless, the FFO can contribute to pursuing each of them.
- It has one crucial task in coordinating with the other EU member states with regard to the future of the EU and the further development of the eurozone.
- It can provide political support for the work being done on trade liberalisation and investment protection by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the European Commission, and at the same time make sure this work is not hijacked for blatantly political ends.
- Through its missions abroad, it can actively help companies struggling to overcome barriers in the host country relating to market access and investment protection.
- It should make intellectual property rights, cyber security and the supply of raw materials a fixture in its bilateral dialogues and step up its efforts to establish functioning international regimes in this area.
- International agreements on the protection of trade and supply chains, particularly in the maritime sector, and active engagement in crisis prevention in foreign markets and regions of importance to German business are further key tasks, even if these markets and regions are a long way from Europe – East Asia, for instance.
Strategically, the Federal Foreign Office should seek to form alliances with states which fundamentally share Germany's ideas of the market and competition, with a view to enforcing them at international level.
There are two essential reference frameworks here: the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and – secondly – transatlantic relations. Alongside these and other traditional partners – Japan, Australia and Canada – a number of newly industrialised countries and emerging economies – South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil – are among potential major allies in shaping the global regulatory framework.
These tasks should be embedded in a foreign policy concept stipulating clear strategic goals and oriented to foreign policy instruments designed to achieve these goals. This includes minimising the dissynergies between ministries dealing with foreign trade and investment. In particular, relations between the FFO and the BMWi have in the past been characterised more by competition than by cooperation.
Of course such a concept cannot be oriented merely to economic interests, but it should certainly mention them explicitly. To this end, we need an intensified, systematic dialogue with the business community about the synergies and conflicting aims of external economic policy, foreign policy and security policy.
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