Strategic Foreign Economic Policy 2030 – How Can Austria Benefit from Geo-economic Concepts?

China's growing political and economic importance, rising mistrust and systemic rivalry between the USA and China, coupled with the declining importance of global institutions such as the WTO, call for stronger geostrategic action by the EU. The COVID-19 pandemic as well as the Russia-Ukraine war have highlighted the potential vulnerability of international supply chains due to overdependence on individual supplier countries and have increased the urgency for policy adjustments. The necessary geo-economic reorientation has a cross-cutting character and links foreign economic policy with foreign and security policy interests, but also with the goals of industrial policy, climate and energy policy, monetary and financial market policy, and even development policy. It places great and new demands on economic diplomacy, the design of economic policy instruments, the coordination between national and international actors, and the balancing of diverse objectives from different policy areas. The study describes the most important geo-economic trends as well as the related challenges and derives important strategic guidelines and economic policy options for the EU and Austria.