Pascal Lamy: Recent Thinking | Brunswick Group
Perspectives

Pascal Lamy: Recent Thinking

Pascal Lamy has contributed to a wide range of articles and reports analyzing the impact of Brexit and populism on Europe.

Please see below a selection of articles written by Pascal Lamy.

WTO needs to improve international trade rules

Global Times | Author Global Time | 16th Dec 2019

"The agenda of the WTO in opening trade has to change. This is complex because it's a big organization and decisions are taken by consensus, which makes progress extremely slow. But the way to go remains. Let's remove obstacles to trade and let's do it in a balanced way, and address new issues, which were not there 20 or 30 years ago."

Pascal Lamy: Phase one deal is small compared to the damage of the trade war

CGTN | Author Wu Lei | 14th Dec 2019

"This is like any international system, you have to compromise in order to move the thing forward and reach a win-win situation."

'Staying in a customs union after Brexit won’t resolve the Irish border issue'

 The Guardian | Author Pascal Lamy | 12th April 2019

"The UK parliament has rejected the prospect of a no-deal Brexit and stepped back from the cliff edge. But while the limited extension of the article 50 timetable postpones the threat of no deal until the end of October, it does not remove it. Unless parliament can reach agreement about how to break the impasse, the new cliff edge will soon come into view. It is vital that this does not happen. A way forward must be found."

‘Trump will achieve nothing with tariffs’: former WTO head blasts US policy on China

South China Post | Author Zigor Aldama, interview with Pascal Lamy | 12th Dec 2018

 

Trump's protectionism might just save the WTO

Washington Post l Author - Pascal Lamy l 12 November 2018

Keeping the United States within the WTO should obviously be Plan A. But it would be prudent for other members to start thinking about devising a new international trade organization minus the United States in order to avoid the “my way or the highway” blackmail that has become the American president’s signature negotiating style.

Originally posted in the Washington Post here.

Ex-WTO head expects U.S.-China rivalry to continue for several decades

Kyodo News | Interview with Pascal Lamy | 26 Oct 2018

As the US - China trade war continues, Pascal outlines how he believes that the rivalry will continue far into the future. 

Trump has blamed his country's massive deficits with major trading partners such as China and Japan on unfair trade, threatening to slap steeper tariffs on cars and auto parts to defend national security. The former WTO chief views the deepening of ties between Japan and the European Union as a way to counterbalance and prompt "a U.S.-China conversation to take place." Japan and the European Union, covering a third of the world's economy, are now seeking to complete domestic procedures by the end of the year to ratify a free trade deal signed in July.

Foundation of free trade - Read the full piece in Japanese

The Nikkei | Interview with Pascal Lamy |05 September 2018

During a visit to Tokyo in September 2018, The Nikkei interviewed Pascal where he commented on a variety of topics including the recent trade war, TPP, TAG and Brexit. According to Pascal, the backlash on free trade is caused by a decline of social systems, and the rise of populism is attributed to domestic issues. Therefore, solving domestic issues such as unemployment and medical problems should make up of 80% of the total efforts to tackle protectionism, while the remaining 20% comes from international efforts. The obstructive factor of free trade is also not custom duty but food and safety regulations as well as the urgent need of digitalization. Pascal also expressed that he is more worried about the future of democracy than globalization and establishing a system that encompasses both capitalism and socialism is essential.

 

 

The WTO must be able to exist without Donald Trump.

Le Point l Author - Pascal Lamy l 2nd September 2018

"There are two possible interpretations of Trump's statement. We must therefore prepare for two situations." 

Read the article in full in original French

Trump trade tariff plan ‘will backfire’

BBC World Service l Clip of interview with Pascal Lamy l 2nd March 2018

"US consumers will end up paying more for goods if President Trump's plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports goes ahead"

Europe, Germany, France: Evolution of public opinions

Institut Jacques Delores l Co-Authors - Pascal Lamy, Sébastien Maillard, Henrik Enderlein, Daniel Debomy l 13th September 2017

Opinion polls show us that Europe enjoys again public opinions’ approval, with the significant support of the French and the German. Nevertheless, they continue to differ on their judgments on economy and globalisation.

Repair and prepare: Growth and the Euro after Brexit

Institut Jacques Delores l Co-Authors - Pascal Lamy, Jörg Asmussen, Laurence Boone, Aart De Geus, Maria João Rodrigues, António Vitorino 20th September 2016 

Reforms and a deepening of European economic and monetary union are vital for the future of the EU. If the euro fails, the entire European project is at risk.

The EU and our collective security: Stronger together!

Institut Jacques Delores l Co-Authors - Pascal Lamy, António Vitorino, Enrico Letta and Yves Bertoncini l 17th June 2016

The people of Europe are facing a multi-faceted security challenge that they need to confront together now more than ever before, whatever the outcome of the British referendum. They need to place their “collective security” at the very heart of the European construction, underlining their recent progress in the field but also framing it within a mobilising global vision.

A TV interview with Pascal Lamy, former director-general of the WTO from 2005 – 2013; professor John Gong from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing; and David Mahon, managing director of Mahon China Investment Management Limited in Beijing on CGTN.

Watch the video here 

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