Ditchley Conference Report: COVID-19, the Global Economy and the Return of Power Politics

Summary:

At the CER’s annual Ditchley conference (which took place online in 2021), we asked 50 top policy-makers and thinkers in economics and foreign policy to consider how the EU should respond to the pandemic, US-Chinese rivalry and its unstable neighbourhood. There was consensus that the EU needed to be more assertive internationally and less slow-moving internally, but there were disputes about how far it should go to achieve those goals. The Macronistes wanted a Gaullist EU with governments clubbing together to be more able to quickly confront crises, and with the EU more nimbly dealing with the big men of modern geopolitics. Their more cautious opponents emphasised that member-states should act together where possible, and focus on what was achievable with an EU of 27 leaders with different domestic political pressures.