Workshop MULTIBIZ: Multiplexing business power and the European Union in an uncertain world

This workshop centers on the MULTIBIZ – Multiplexing Business Power: The EU and Global Infrastructure Competition, led by CEsA researcher Luís Pais Bernardo (CEsA/ISEG RESEARCH/ISEG-Universidade de Lisboa), which investigates the evolving nature of business power within a multiplexing global order. Taking the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy as a case study, the project confronts the reality of global infrastructure competition, framed by the European Commission as a “global battle of offers” to developing countries. This context raises critical questions about the role of business, positioned by key EU officials as the “keystone” for competitive investment, and whether its operation serves as both the means and ends of development itself.

The session will engage with the project’s core analytical objectives: developing a framework for studying business power in global development and understanding how it is changing amidst a prominent geoeconomic turn. Empirically, the focus is on analyzing how Global Gateway mobilizes business capabilities, assessing the developmental impact of Global Gateway-framed business, and examining the inherent tension between developmental aspirations and geoeconomic projection embedded in the strategy.

Discussion will draw upon the project’s conceptual work on business power—understood structurally and relationally—and initial exploratory case studies of Global Gateway flagship projects.

Workshop “MULTIBIZ: Multiplexing business power and the European Union in an uncertain world”

Date: 26 May 2025 (Monday)
Hour: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Venue: Novo Banco Room – ISEG (Quelhas Building, 4th Floor, Rua do Quelhas 6, 1200-781, Lisbon, Portugal)
Organiser: Professor Luís Pais Bernardo (CEsA/ISEG RESEARCH/ISEG-Universidade de Lisboa)
Free admission, in-person event

About the speakers

Anna Herranz-Surrallès (Maastricht University)

Anna Herranz-Surrallès is an associate professor of International Relations at Maastricht University. Her research primarily focuses on EU energy policy and global energy governance. This includes examining the development of EU energy diplomacy, green industrial policy, and the increasing geopoliticization of energy investments and infrastructure. She also studies the evolution of energy cooperation models in the EU’s relations with neighboring states.

Lena Rethel (University of Warwick)

Lena Rethel is a professor of International Political Economy at the University of Warwick. Her research interests span the international politics of finance and development, the global governance of Islamic economies, and the structure of contemporary International Political Economy. Her work explores the theories and common understandings underpinning economic and financial policymaking, how these drive institutional changes like the expansion of capital markets and Islamic finance, and the resulting socio-economic impacts, often drawing insights from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia.

Milan Babic (University of Amsterdam)

Milan Babic is an associate professor in Political Economy at the University of Amsterdam. His work investigates significant transformations within the global political economy and their direct implications for contemporary climate politics. His research concerns the role of finance in facilitating sustainable transitions, with a specific focus on decarbonization processes across Europe and internationally, examining the political dimensions, including aspects related to state ownership in this transition.

Scott Lavery (University of Glasgow)

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