The EU should form a new rule-based trade coalition

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In an analysis, the National Board of Trade Sweden proposes that the EU establish a new trade coalition together with like-minded countries in order to revitalise the rule-based trading system.

In the analysis, the National Board of Trade builds on the proposal put forward by Ursula von der Leyen earlier this summer, concerning deeper cooperation between the EU and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The background is the major changes underway in international trade policy, where the EU has so far responded to the United States’ more protectionist trade policy by reacting and attempting to limit the damage.

A shift in world trade

The new US trade policy, including higher tariffs, has prompted the EU to look for ways to soften the impact. The most notable example is the agreement reached between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and US President Donald Trump in Turnberry on 27 July 2025.

At the same time, more long-term and sustainable solutions have also been discussed. In connection with the European Council meeting in June 2025, von der Leyen suggested that the EU deepen its cooperation with the CPTPP. According to von der Leyen, such cooperation could demonstrate that free trade with many countries is possible on a rule-based foundation.

Six areas of cooperation

The National Board of Trade supports the idea but argues that such cooperation needs to be concrete and deliver clear commercial benefits for its members. The agency therefore proposes six areas of cooperation that could add substance to the overall idea. The coalition would be WTO compatible but not part of the WTO.

Potential members

– The EU and the CPTPP countries would form the core of such a coalition, but more countries could be invited to take part, including EU candidate countries and other free trade partners. Together, they would represent more than half of world trade. The coalition would remain open to other countries that wish to deepen trade integration, but not to countries that disregard WTO commitments or maintain high trade barriers, says Per Altenberg, Chief Economist at the National Board of Trade Sweden.

A new era requires new solutions

We have entered a new trade policy era that will require solutions that take inspiration from but are not necessarily the same as in the past.

– The main question before us is whether the EU is among the economies that shape those solutions and whether they support rule-based trade or not, says Per Altenberg.

Read the analysis.

A New Era in International Trade Requires a New Rules-Based Trade Coalition | Kommerskollegium