There was no happy ending in Scotland either. Only persistence helps in trade policy-and a deepening of the EU internal market. The winning warning of Volkswagen last week was a signal. The hope of getting a resilient agreement in the trade dispute with the United States seemed to disappear. At most, deals such as US investments by the group in exchange against discounts at customs were still conceivable for VW. Family businesses cannot usually negotiate such deals. They would be the last one who voluntarily returned to the USA or even stray free trade. On the contrary: These family businesses understand very well that you have to keep an eye on the interests of the export market and offer something in the struggle for free trade. But the deal outlined on Sunday in Scotland cannot satisfy. The countries make manageable concessions in agricultural trade and promise investments in or purchases from the USA. Many details are left out; The half -life could be limited. The European Union as chief negotiator for the Member States would hardly have got involved in such a deal under normal circumstances. Because the higher trading barriers together with the clear devaluation of the dollar to the euro worsen the price competitiveness of the exporting family businesses even in tariffs from “only” 15 percent by an estimated 25 percent. Not making anything in the security policy and you shouldn’t fool yourself: This will not go away so quickly. A long dry spell lies ahead of the European export industry, similar to Brexit. The uncertainty makes the US business more difficult. At the same time, the Union should really and permanently reduce its agricultural protectionism. And it should make it clear in security policy that the United States is our central partner and that there is also a lot more European investment. As trading partners, the United States is not an irreplaceable, but it is important to remain loyal to the free trade organization WTO. Because as after Brexit with Great Britain, other times can come again in relation to the United States. Until then, the EU should not give up its role as a reliable partner and banner carrier of the rule of law. It is a model of success and should remain. What our investigations have shown: The role of the USA as a trading partner is very important, but not irreplaceable. In this situation, no one can seriously oppose the free trade agreement with other regions of the world. Real support from the Member States is now much more, especially Germany’s.deutschland has to build pressure and we should hardly be able to believe that we can find such a huge internal market in Europe that can be deepened and completed in a few simple steps. Germany has to take care of the matter, build pressure, forge coalitions in the EU. Otherwise it will be nothing. There are often family businesses or (their nucleus) start-ups that work with their innovations that Europe becomes more independent-even with digital services, at least in the industrial business. And they are family businesses that are characterized by resilience, long -term thinking and mostly unshakable confidence, but now they need an EU that is courageous and quick in terms of internal market. This is the only way to survive this phase of disillusionment. In the long run, windy deals are not an option. Gabriel Felbermayr is the director of the Austrian Economic Research Institute Wifo.Rainer Kirchdörfer is the board of the family business Foundation.
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