1.2.7. Global Gateway
In December 2021, the EU launched Global Gateway[16] as a new strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in the digital, climate and energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world while supporting EU interests. Investments in these five priority areas are to be made in accordance with the key principles of democracy and high standards, good governance and transparency, equal partnerships, green and clean, security-focused and facilitating private sector investments. Global Gateway changes how the EU approaches its external action, combining the demand for sustainable development in partner countries with a clear assessment of and transparent communication of the EU’s strategic interests in the prioritisation and design of our external investments, in line with the Joint Communication on European Economic Security Strategy.
‘Global Gateway is above all a geopolitical project, which seeks to position Europe in a competitive international marketplace. […] European investment has to be transformative because in today’s world one has to be big to exist. This is why Team Europe is a fundamental condition of success’. President Ursula von der Leyen, First Global Gateway Board Meeting, 12 December 2022.
‘Global Gateway can only become a success if all EU actors work closely to align their resources. […] We need to act as a real Team Europe to be more than the sum of our parts. Without this, we will not reach the scale we need to compete in the geopolitical marketplace’. High Representative/ Vice-President Josep Borrell, First Global Gateway Board Meeting, 12 December 2022.
Global Gateway is delivered in a Team Europe approach and TEIs play a significant role in its implementation. Most of the current TEIs contribute to Global Gateway, but TEIs can also be implemented outside the scope of Global Gateway, as they can cover sectors such as migration, peace and security, governance or food security.
Global Gateway flagships projects[17] are selected by the Council of the European Union to showcase and communicate how Global Gateway is implemented based on their ability to achieve tangible results and transformative impact. They can include (components of) TEIs, and/or EU and Member States’ initiatives.
To achieve a transformative impact, Global Gateway aims to leverage investments using the full range of options from the common financing toolbox but places particular emphasis on crowding in private capital flows in support of sustainable development. It intends to narrow the infrastructure investment gap by enabling high-quality investments through various financial instruments (grants, concessional loans, guarantees, export credit support etc.). This is achieved by de-risking private sector investments as well as employing operational tools such as technical assistance, policy and economic dialogue, trade and investment agreements and standardisation, to create better conditions for quality investments. Global Gateway thus further broadens the range of financial partners and funding flows included in the Team Europe approach, including those from Member States’ DFIs, export credit agencies and the European private sector more generally.
For partner countries, Global Gateway offers a qualitatively superior and innovative alternative to other public investment offers for global infrastructure development. Its roll out is designed, developed and implemented in close cooperation with partner countries and is based on local needs, opportunities and capacities, utilising existing processes and mechanisms. Global Gateway integrates the interests of the EU, its Member States and the partner countries through win-win partnerships. In this respect, it will be able to assist partner countries in the green and digital transition and will be an investment in achieving the goals of 2030 Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement as well as contributing to international stability and cooperation.
By promoting a 360-degree-approach, the Global Gateway is about more than supporting hard infrastructure. This is what sets Global Gateway apart and exemplifies the EU’s comparative advantage.
The Global Gateway 360-degree approach entails the systematic application, tailored to the context, of the six key principles of Global Gateway: 1) democratic values and high standards; 2) good governance and transparency; 3) equal and mutually beneficial partnerships, 4) green and clean; 5) security-focused; and 6) catalysing private sector investment. Several of these principles are linked to legal obligations, notably the mainstreaming of human rights, democracy, rule of law, gender equality, environmental protection and the fight against climate change, in line with the Treaty and the NDICI Regulation.
The 360-degree approach is also about creating an enabling environment for sustainable and quality investments, which promote high level of social, environmental and governance standards (ESG), supports climate neutrality and the green and digital transition and increases respect for human rights, the rule of law and non-discrimination and which promote decent work and education, gender, youth, social rights and the reduction of inequalities. The Global Gateway 360-degree approach mobilises and combines different implementation modalities (budgetary guarantees, blending, budget support, procurement and grants) and technical expertise, including from the public sector through instruments such as Twinning and TAIEX. The approach also makes use of a range of operational tools, ranging from policy and economic dialogue, trade and investment agreements, support to conducive policy and regulatory frameworks, institutional support and technology transfers, whilst supporting an inclusive and participatory approach with relevant civil society actors and local authorities.
Figure 3: Global Gateway’s 360-degree-approach
Global Gateway also remains relevant in fragile contexts as they require multidimensional approaches and increased coordination as well as a mix of instruments. The Global Gateway offer and our work on fragility are not in opposition: we see in practice, on the ground (we even have a number of Global Gateway Flagship projects in extremely fragile contexts). However, addressing fragile contexts globally is an effort that goes beyond the Global Gateway. It requires us to bring together all the relevant dimensions: politics, economics, security, migration, and human development/basic services, in a Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus logic, a spirit of ‘do no harm’, and with a conflict-sensitivity screening of our interventions.
Further information on the Global Gateway can be found in the Global Gateway Joint Communication and the dedicated Global Gateway website.
16 https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/joint-communication-global-gateway_en
17 For 2023 flagships, see: https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/publications/global-gateway-2023-flagship-projects-infographics_en