In her speech at the Bruegel Institute, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström set out the EU’s trade agenda for 2017 and beyond. In light of the last year political events and the current overturning of the international trade chessboard, Malmström shared her view about the reasons why trade is worth fighting for and how the European Commission will continue ensuring that trade is transparent, fair, protecting our values at home, while promoting them abroad.

Many jobs and wages have declined because of automation, with machines and computers replacing manual work, at a faster speed than any other previous industrial revolutions. “Against this reality, trade deals are a handy scapegoat,” she said. “But if we – incorrectly – lay all the blame for economic change at the door of free trade or globalization, we won’t end up solving our problems, we’ll just delay the solution.”