The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission recently launched the Global Gateway. The Global Gateway is a European strategy geared towards increasing clean, smart, and secure links in the transport, energy, and digital sectors. This strategy is also meant to strengthen the education, health, and research sectors across the globe.
The Global Gateway represents a sustainable and trusted connection that works for the people and planet to deal with emerging global challenges, including protecting the environment and climate change, boosting health security, and improving supply chains and competitiveness. According to sources, this connection aims to raise more than 300 billion euros by investing between 2021 and 2027. Global Gateway will oversee a lasting global recovery with these funds while accounting for the EU’s interests and its partner’s needs.
Ursula Von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president, recently issued a statement stating how the COVID-19 showed how the world is interconnected. She went on to say that as part of their global recovery, they want to redesign how the world connects to build a better future. The European model focuses on hard and soft infrastructure, climate, transport and energy, health, sustainable investment in digital, education, and research. Ursula also indicated that the European Commission aims to provide an enabling environment that guarantees a level playing field for everyone.
In her statement, Ursula stated that the Commission would aid investments in quality infrastructure, adhering to the highest environmental and social standards as per EU’s international norm, standards, and democratic values. According to Ursula, the Global Gateway Strategy provides guidelines on how Europe can forge resilient connections with the rest of the world.
Ursula’s statements were echoed by the Commission’s Vice President Josep Borrell. According to Josep, forging connections across key sectors can help build shared circles of interest and strengthen the resilience of supply chains. Building a stronger Europe could mean a committed engagement with partners based on Europe’s core principles. He went on to say that Global Gateway was a way of reaffirming Europe’s vision of boosting connection based on globally accepted rules, standards, and regulations to provide an even playing field.
For a long time, the EU has built a reputation as a trusted partner, focused on delivering high-quality and sustainable projects while considering the needs of partner countries and ensuring long-term benefits for local communities.
Global Gateway
Global Gateway is an initiative that aims to increase investments that promote good governance and transparency, high standards and democratic values, green and clean, equal partnerships, secure infrastructures, and act as a catalyst for private sector investment.
The initiative will use a Team Europe Approach to connect the EU, member states, and their institutions for financial development; these include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank. The program also seeks to bring together players in the private sector to utilize investments for progressive purposes. The Team Europe is set to work closely with EU delegations from across the globe to select and oversee the Strategy’s projects in partner countries.
The Global Gateway Strategy borrows heavily from the EU’s new financial tools included in the multi-annual financial guidelines 2021-2027. The EU has also been using the Neighborhood, International Cooperation and Development Instruments-Global Europe, InvestEU, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance III, Interreg, and Horizon Europe to bring together public and private investments and connectivity in key areas.
NDCICI-Global Europe’s financial wing, EFSD+, is set to avail more than 135 billion Euros to fund guaranteed infrastructure projects between 2021 and 2027. Another 19 billion euros in grant funding will be made available from the EU budget, while the European development and financial institutions will have up to 145 billion euros in planned investment volumes.
To increase its financial reserves, the EU is looking to establish a Facility for European Export Credit. This way, they can complement the current export credit arrangements for the Member states and consolidate the EU’s influence in the region. With this facility, the program will be able to achieve an even higher level playing field for businesses under the EU operating off third country markets.
Aside from providing better financial conditions for its partners, the EU aims to promote the highest social, strategic, and environmental management standards. The Union will also provide partners with technical assistance to help improve their ability to prepare viable projects, ensuring high returns on investment in infrastructure.
The Global Gateway program is set to invest in international cooperation and stability to demonstrate how democratic values bring fairness and certainty to investors, long-term benefits to the world population, and sustainability to partners.
This initiative is part of Europe’s commitment to addressing the global investment gap that needs concerted efforts. This move is in line with the recently held G7 Leaders’ summit that saw global leaders commit towards a value-driven, transparent infrastructure and high-standard partnership to meet international development and infrastructure needs.
The EU has expressed its commitment to work with partners who share their vision to realize sustainable connectivity investments. To honor this statement, Global Gateway will be working closely with Build Back Better World, a US initiative. The two programs seek to work together in addressing the climate crisis by developing clean, resilient, and consistent infrastructure for a better future.
The Global Gateway Program is a build-up of the 2018 Connectivity Strategy between EU and Asia that established a partnership between Japan and India. The strategy was also focused on the investment and economic plans for the Eastern Partnership, Western Balkans, and the Southern Neighborhood. This strategy also aligns with the Paris Agreement and the UN’s 2030 Agenda on Sustainable development Goals.
Next Steps
The Team Europe Initiatives will oversee projects under the Global Gateway program. These initiatives will see European financial institutions and Member states join forces with civil societies, the government, European businesses, and partner countries. The president of the European Commission will spearhead all these projects, while the vice president of the Commission and the Commissioners overseeing International Partnerships and Neighborhood and Enlargement will be responsible for the implementation of the Global Gateway program and oversee coordination among all players.
