Market Power Europe and the research agenda on geopoliticisation and economic security

The global system is experiencing a geopolitical turn, which is encouraging coercive policy responses from governments while fuelling the emergence of a new scholarly research agenda. To understand these changes and their potential effects on European Union (EU) institutions and policies, this paper employs the conceptual framework of Market Power Europe (MPE). Guided by three central characteristics that MPE draws from the Comparative and International Political Economy literature – market size, institutional capacity and domestic interest contestation – the paper undertakes a qualitative content analysis of the design and objectives of the EU’s 2023 European Economic Security Strategy. The evidence shows that these three characteristics help to shape the EU’s exercise of power in a geopoliticising environment and reveal the important role of external factors and increasing linkages between market and security objectives. The findings reinforce the analytical importance of considering all three characteristics of MPE, which complements the propositions raised in this Special Issue and contributes to the emerging research agenda on the new challenges of geopoliticisation and economic security.