In this hybrid research seminar on Thursday April 23, 2026 at 11:00 am by Professor Valentina Meliciani— will present her research titled "Selective industrial policy for the EU open strategic autonomy: the role of products’ relatedness ".
Abstract:
The European Union is facing a growing dependence vis-à-vis external suppliers around strategic technologies, components, and raw materials that are crucial to achieve a fair and successful twin transition both in the green and digital areas. In this context it has developed the concept of open strategic autonomy (OSA) envisaging the necessity to strengthen existing industrial capabilities and developing new ones in strategic products through selective industrial policies, while maintaining trade openness. Building on the literature on relatedness and export specialisation, this paper tests the role of distance for achieving new specialisations in products belonging to sensitive ecosystems where Europe has a dependence and on a set of products relevant for the twin transition. It argues that in the presence of constraints to the diversification capabilities of large manufacturing countries, smaller member states that are relatively close to strategic products may play a role if Europe wants to develop extensive end-to-end value chains in critical areas. The results of the empirical analyses support the importance of both absolute and relative distance for achieving new trade advantages and point to the importance of coordinating industrial policies between the EU and Member States.
The zoom link to join the seminar online can be found here. This event is open to the public; all those interested in this topic are very welcome to attend. After the presentation there will be time for questions and discussion.
For any queries related to our UNU-MERIT Seminar Series, please contact Lizeth Melissa Molina Alvarez and Karthika Baby Sujatha by sending an email to seminars@merit.unu.edu.
