Global Gateway

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Global Gatweway
Budget
EUR€ 300 billion
Websitehttps://ec.europa.eu/

The Global Gateway Initiative is a worldwide strategy by the

EU Commission under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen. Over the period 2021–2027, the EU will invest €300 billion.[1] Investment into Africa is the regional priority of the initiative, as half the funds are allocated to projects to improve the green transition, digital transition, sustainable economic growth, health care and education in Africa.[1]

The initiative is seen as an alternative or rivalry to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative,[1][3] which EU leaders heavily criticised because of human rights abuse concerns and economic risks, disadvantages and a one-sided trade relation.[4] The EU wants to encourage links, and not dependencies, according to von der Leyen. As of December 2022, Global Gateway has been criticized for failing to provide concrete details on projects and drawing heavily on already-existing programmes.

Objectives

As part of its trade relations, the EU sees Global Gateway as an opportunity to trade and invest in global partners better. The initiative also is a response to a longer systemic rivalry between

Climate Change, an issue which the EU sees as very important to tackle. Thus, the Initiative was described as "European Green Deal Worldwide", as a reference to the EU's European Green Deal and intensification of the fight through this mechanism.[8]

Financing

The main funding will mostly be contributed by the EU and Member State institutions for development and finances, but also the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, but will also leverage private investments from the Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) III, Interreg, InvestEU and Horizon Europe. A European Export Credit Facility is being considered for establishment, to empower European companies in third countries where they have to face strong disadvantages.

Specific funding programmes are NDICI-Global Europe (Budget: €79billion) with the EFSD+ as its financial arm, backed by the Union's External Action Guarantee (EAG) with a budget of €40billion (out of a total of €53.4 billion) to decrease the risk of investments.

In total, the EFSD+ will provide €135 billion in investments guaranteed by the External Action Guarantee for Global Gateway projects, with up to €18 billion in grants and a further planned and estimated €145 billion in investment volumes by European financial and development institutions.[2]

Approximately half of the anticipated €300 billion funds Global Gateway funds are to be raised via private investments that the EU hopes to generate with a system of financial guarantees.[9]

Much of the Global Gateway funding proposed in 2021 was based on the re-classification of existing financial commitments from the EU's 2021-2027 budget as opposed to new resources.[10]: 62 

Projects

In December 2022, the EU held a €387,000 virtual gala in the Metaverse to promote the Global Gateway project.[11] Six people attended.[11]

Outlook

In 2021 comments on the Initiative, Ursula von der Leyen stated that the 6th European Union–African Union Summit would be the first case test for the Initiative, calling it a "flagship project". Other mentioned regions which are viable for funding and further partnership are Japan and India, as well as the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership, and the Southern Neighbourhood, but also Central Asia and Latin America.[12]

Cooperation

Close partnership is planned with the American-led Build Back Better World initiative, which has similar goals. Both ventures will reinforce and support each other.[13]

Criticism

As of at least 2022, it was unclear how much progress had been made to advance the Global Gateway towards realization.[10]: 148 

A report by the South China Morning Post in December 2022 states that concrete details on potential projects are difficult to find, and that the EU has instead published high-level summaries of potential projects it would like to do.[14] Specific projects cited by as part of Global Gateway include projects for which funds were already appropriated rather than new funding.[14] According to policy fellow W. Gyude Moore of the Center for Global Development, Global Gateway "draws heavily on existing programmes and initiatives that would have moved forward even if Global Gateway did not exist" and the project "has not gone beyond just words."[14]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 0378-5920
    .
  2. ^ a b "Global Gateway: up to €300 billion for the European Union's strategy to boost sustainable links around the world". EU Commission. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  3. ^ "EU launches 'Global Gateway' to counter China's Belt and Road". Politico. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  4. ^ "EU ambassadors band together against Silk Road". Handelsblatt. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  5. ^ "NATO 2030: Analysis and Recommendations of the Reflection Group Appointed by the NATO Secretary General" (PDF). NATO. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  6. ^ "G7: Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment". G7 UK 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  7. ^ "The European Union works with G7 partners to promote investments, based on the Global Gateway strategy". EU Commission. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  8. ^ ""Global Gateway": the EU Green Deal goes global". E3G. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  9. ^ Barbero, Michele. "Europe Is Trying (and Failing) to Beat China at the Development Game". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-1-350-25231-8
    .
  11. ^ a b "Only 6 people showed up to the EU's $400k party in the metaverse". Fortune. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Questions and Answers on Global Gateway". EU Commission. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  13. ^ "EU-Initiative Global Gateway". Hans-Seidel-Stiftung. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  14. ^ a b c "1 year on, EU alternative to China's belt and road fails to deliver". South China Morning Post. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
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