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The EU is increasingly trading with dictators, ECB warns

EUROPEAN UNION, JUL 8 – EU trade with autocratic regimes funds their expansionist agendas and supports critical resources for the bloc’s green transition, ECB economists report rising imports since 1999 despite sanctions.

  • On Tuesday, a blog post by researchers from the European Central Bank highlighted that the EU’s trade with authoritarian governments has been increasing, thereby supporting their expansionist agendas.
  • This trend has risen steadily since 1999 and is driven partly by the EU reallocating imports toward less democratic countries amid declining governance quality among partners.
  • The blog explains that key rare earth materials needed for the EU's green transition mainly come from autocratic countries, creating a trade-off between values and resources.
  • The blog highlighted that engaging in trade with authoritarian regimes typically supports governments pursuing aggressive and expansionist military goals, which could ultimately threaten the EU's stability.
  • Although the trend only recently showed interruption, the findings suggest reputational risks and that the EU may unintentionally support autocrats despite its values-based trade pledges.
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The EU has as far as more economic relations with countries bordering democracy or even dictatorships are the conclusion that a study of the European Central Bank, says Politico.

·Romania
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The EU has increasingly done business with autocratic governments over the past 25 years, as a study shows. The democracy index of trading partners has declined in terms of the moral implications of trade and the human rights situation.

·Munich, Germany
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Bloomberg broke the news in United States on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
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