On 16–17 January 2025, the international conference “The Autonomy of EU Law Under Pressure? The Changing Landscape of the Interactions Between EU Law and International Law” took place at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna). Organized by Birgit Hollaus, Stefan Mayr, and Tamás Molnár, the conference explored the dynamic and increasingly complex relationship between EU law and international law – with a particular focus on the multifaceted and contested concept of the autonomy of EU law.

I presented on the topic “The Turn to Strategic Autonomy in EU External Economic Law: Deterrent for a Geopoliticized Global Economic Order or Departure from European Value Constitutionalism?”. My talk addressed the question of how the recent paradigm shift in the EU’s external economic policy – most notably through the concept of “open strategic autonomy” – can be reconciled with the Union’s constitutional foundations.

At the core of my presentation was an analysis of the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), arguably the most prominent manifestation of this strategic shift. I argued that the ACI does not signify a departure from European value constitutionalism but rather a constitutional adaptation to a changing international economic order.