Europe is starting to make big changes in global trade

2026-01-24

Keir Starmer will travel to Beijing in late January to relaunch the so-called "Golden Age" business dialogue. The working meeting will be attended by the heads of leading Chinese and British companies.

India and the European Union are preparing to conclude a trade agreement. On January 27, New Delhi will host a joint India-EU summit. The two major economies plan to deepen trade relations in services, as well as retail trade. In particular, the emphasis will be on everyday consumer goods and the IT sector.

Establishing a new economic union and greater diversification is particularly important for India at this stage, as the country has taken a serious hit from American tariffs, most notably on the production of jewelry and textiles. The EU is also interested in tapping into a different market, having concluded 25 years of negotiations with Mercosur, the bloc of South America’s leading economies, earlier this month and signed an agreement on January 17. The EU is also interested in reducing its dependence on China, which has been a strategic challenge for Brussels for years.

The EU’s new trade relationship with India is also made more realistic by the fact that in September last year, Armenia and Iran signed an agreement to operate the Chabahar port in Armenia and then on the Black Sea, as well as a transport route from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of ​​Oman.

In addition to the above, Brussels intends to continue the existing open trade between the EU and the Pacific countries. The UK joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership last year, urging the EU to do the same.

Europe is emerging as a global leader as it begins to transform the global economy in five areas: by engaging in dialogue with China, with London; by strengthening trade routes with Mercosur, India and Oceania. This is complemented by a €12 billion investment package with Central Asia in critical minerals. European investment and technology will be the cornerstone of trade links between Central Asia and Mercosur via the Caucasus.

Georgia, as a member of the Eastern Partnership and an EU candidate country, will regain its historic state function, which is required to implement nine recommendations from the European Commission. For the "Golden Age" of Great Britain and China, as well as the Mercosur-Europe-India-Oceania trade agreements, constitute the main foundation of the Silk Road, the gateway to which is the Caucasus.

Zurab Maghradze, Ph.D.