The New Zealand Journal of Research on Europe Call for Papers Special Issue on Economic integration after Covid-19: The case of free trade agreements between New Zealand, Australia, and Europe Reminder: Abstracts due 15 March 2021 Special Issue Editors: Dr Stefano Riela, The Europe Institute and the University of Auckland, New Zealand Dr Peter Zámborský, University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand Prof. Gabriele Suder, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia The last decades have been characterised by a boom of international relations promoting economic integration among countries around the world. This integration has been the result of political cooperation among like-minded countries or the tool of a foreign/development policy. The recent paralysis of the World Trade Organization, the multilateral institution that deals with the rules of international trade, has resulted in the flourishing of plurilateral, regional, and bilateral agreements as alternative options of cross-border economic integration. The Covid-19 pandemic has resurrected ‘national security’ as a legitimate justification for protectionism and industrial policy, especially for the critical sectors of food and health-related goods and services. In the case of personal protective equipment (PPE), for example, the EU Commission first restricted the export, then invited member States to be vigilant against foreign acquisitions of PPE manufacturing, and finally launched a consultation in June of 2020 to develop a new “strategic autonomy” that combined the commitment to free and fair trade with the need of producing essential goods on the European territory. Other countries are also reconsidering the nature of their global trade and investment policies. The new inward-looking policies of many governments are also related to strategic actions of firms, including re-shoring of value creation to home countries and a retreat to relatively less globalized value chains. This trend of “de-globalisation” has raised concerns (both among international institutions and scholars—see references below) about escalation of autarkic plans, which can jeopardize cross-border cooperation required to fix international problems. In spite of the Covid-19 travel restrictions, lockdowns, and rising anti-globalist sentiments, trade negotiations have progressed between the European Union (EU), New Zealand, and Australia, following the 2018 decision of the Council of the EU to authorize the opening of negotiations for EU-New Zealand and EU-Australia Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). It is important to consider the implications of this changing policy context for both FTAs between the EU, New Zealand, and Australia, and strategies of international businesses. We encourage authors to address questions that may include: Are the post-Covid-19 policies likely to affect the outcome of trade deals between the EU and New Zealand/Australia? What will be the position of the UK to trade policy post-Covid-19? (The UK has proposed to diverge from the EU’s current economic model, and actively seeks new trade agreements abroad, including with Australia and New Zealand.) What are the implications of this changing global trade architecture and policy landscape for international businesses? How to submit: Submissions to this special issue may take the form of full research articles, essays, or reviews. Please send your article proposal (a title and an abstract of 300 words max) to europe_journal@auckland.ac.nz<mailto:europe_journal@auckland.ac.nz> by 15 March 2021. Abstract selection will be communicated by 1 April 2021; once selected, full articles should be submitted by 15 July 2021. Please refer to the submission instructions and the NZJRE style guide on our website<http://www.europe.auckland.ac.nz/en/publications.html>. We would like to encourage contributions from scholars who might qualify for our NZ$500 prize for the best article published in NZJRE by an emerging scholar or postgraduate student. References Barbieri, P., Boffelli, A., Elia, S., Fratocchi, L., Kalchschmidt, M., & Samson, D. (2020). What can we learn about reshoring after Covid-19?. Operations Management Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12063-020-00160-1 Enderwick, P., & Buckley, P. J. (2020). Rising regionalization: will the post-COVID-19 world see a retreat from globalization?. Transnational Corporations, 27(2). Gereffi, G. (2020). What does the COVID-19 pandemic teach us about global value chains? The case of medical supplies. Journal of International Business Policy, 3(3), 287-301. Guimón, J., & Narula, R. (2020). Ending the COVID-19 pandemic requires more international collaboration. Research-Technology Management, 63(5), 38-41. Guinea, O. & Forsthuber, F. (2020). Globalization Comes to the Rescue: How Dependency Makes Us More Resilient, ECIPE Occasional Paper, 06/2020. https://ecipe.org/publications/globalization-makes-us-more-resilient/ Ingršt, I., & Zámborský, P. (2020). Knowledge flows, strategic motives and innovation performance: Insights from Australian and New Zealand investment in Europe. Journal of Management & Organization, 1-24. Strange, R. (2020). The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and global value chains. Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 47, 455–465. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40812-020-00162-x Verbeke, A. (2020). Will the COVID‐19 Pandemic Really Change the Governance of Global Value Chains?. British Journal of Management, 31(3), 444. Peter Zámborský, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief, New Zealand Journal of Research on Europe Senior Lecturer Management and International Business The University of Auckland Business School https://www.business.auckland.ac.nz/people/pzam004