International Affairs
As geopolitical shifts reshape global commerce, we explore how Europe must balance strategic resilience with open, rules-based international trade. We advocate for a whole-of-society security framework that protects critical infrastructure, scales dual-use innovation, and positions defence readiness as an engine for industrial growth. At the same time, our analysis cautions against protectionist measures within the Industrial Accelerator Act, championing strict market openness alongside pragmatic engagement with key global partners like the US and China. Explore these insights to discover how proactive enterprise policy can secure Europe's supply chains while safeguarding the competitive edge of Irish business.
Driving European Resilience
Security and defence are fundamental pillars of European competitiveness and strategic resilience. Central to Ibec’s vision is the principle that a competitive enterprise base is the primary prerequisite for a resilient state. Rather than viewing security solely through a military lens, Ibec advocates for a whole-of-society approach where economic readiness, critical infrastructure protection, such as transatlantic subsea cables, energy networks, transport systems, and cybersecurity are treated as core components of national and European competitiveness. Unlocking capital for defence and dual-use innovation remains critical. Ibec emphasises the rapid integration of civilian technology, adapting cutting-edge capabilities from sectors like AI, biotech, cloud computing, space, and advanced manufacturing directly into modern security architectures.
Echoing Ibec’s priorities, CEO Danny McCoy, in his capacity as Chair of BusinessEurope’s Defence and Security Task Force, contributed to the development of BusinessEurope’s paper, “Position on a European Readiness, Preparedness and Defence Strategy”. The paper highlights the need to fully integrate security and defence considerations into Europe’s long-term competitiveness and growth agenda. It calls for a transition from reactive crisis responses toward a proactive preparedness model grounded in permanent, structured public-private cooperation between EU institutions, national authorities, and the business community. By scaling Europe’s defence industrial base, supported by SMEs, streamlined procurement, aligned standards, and mechanisms like the European Competitiveness Fund, defence spending can serve as a powerful economic engine. The paper further highlights the necessity of an integrated defence single market and strengthened international cooperation that reinforces NATO through balanced burden-sharing.
Demonstrating Ibec’s active leadership in driving this policy agenda forward, Danny McCoy chaired a high-level European event on 23 September titled “Security, resilience and competitiveness: Europe’s industrial agenda for a new geopolitical era”. The forum brought together senior policymakers and industry leaders to explore how Europe can expand its defence industrial capacity while generating broader economic spillovers. Featuring keynotes from Admiral Seán Clancy, Chairman of the EU Military Committee, and Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space, the event highlighted Ibec’s influence at the intersection of enterprise policy and European defence. Through proactive advocacy and transatlantic leadership, Ibec continues to demonstrate that a resilient, secure Europe and a competitive business ecosystem are intrinsically linked.
Promoting Trade Openess
As the global trading environment faces heightened geopolitical volatility and escalating protectionism, Ibec maintains that open, rules-based trade and active market diversification remain fundamental to Irish enterprise resilience and broader European competitiveness. EU trade policy must strike a precise balance between economic security and international openness to safeguard competitiveness without drifting into harmful protectionism. While speaking in Paris as Chair of Business at OECD’s Trade Committee, Ibec’s Principal Policy Advisor for Global Affairs, Pat Ivory, underscored the importance of enhanced trade policy cooperation, facilitation and traceability during discussions on trade developments and critical mineral supply chains. Maintaining strong and stable relationships with existing trading partners is equally important. The recent BusinessEurope US Network meeting, hosted at the Ibec Brussels office featured an exchange with Rufino Hurtado, Senior Trade Representative at the US Mission to the European Union, on shared transatlantic business priorities and offered an important opportunity to deepen the transatlantic partnership.
The Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) risks embedding protectionist principles in EU legislation that clash with the EU’s WTO compliance, potentially triggering retaliatory protectionist measures globally. Ibec has proactively engaged with BusinessEurope, the EU institutions and relevant stakeholders on the topic. Any ‘European preference’ criteria must only be considered on a case-by-case basis. If demonstrated to be necessary, it must be strictly limited and removed when the specific criteria to promote European interests has been achieved. A blanket ‘Buy European’ approach risks undermining the international cooperation needed to revive European competitiveness, ultimately undermining Europe’s competitiveness ambitions. Supporting this, Ibec’s advocacy has focused on how strict, protectionist ‘Made in Europe’ requirements and FDI provisions in the IAA could negatively impact Irish and European competitiveness.
Ibec has been closely monitoring developments in EU-China relations. With a view to tackling Chinese overcapacity and unfair competition in the EU, the EU-China Trade and Investment Consultations were launched in June. On Friday 9 October, the two sides agreed to moderate Chinese exports of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles to the EU and Beijing agreed to lower duties on many European exports. Looking ahead, the EU is examining a more comprehensive package to address excess capacity through a proposed diversification instrument, with a call for evidence currently underway. Given the strategic sensitivities and structural dependencies surrounding EU-China trade, Ibec is feeding into this call for evidence and contributed to a BusinessEurope paper “What is the way forward for EU-China relations – Views from European business” published in October.
