Multinational corporations and global production networks: The implications for trade policy

The objective of this report is to understand the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and production networks in economic activity, and to investigate their implications for the design of trade policies. The focus of the report is the European Union. MNEs account for a significant share of economic activities in Europe. 18% of EU employees in manufacturing work in foreign owned subsidiaries and 8.6% in subsidiaries owned by non-EU residents. The report also devotes particular attention to the activities of US subsidiaries in Europe and of EU subsidiaries in the US, the only ones for which comprehensive data are available.