BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's claim to be the global champion of open trade and a counterweight to the threatened protectionism of U.S. President Donald Trump risks ringing hollow if it cannot sign a new Pacific free trade deal by the end of 2017.
As part of the process, the European Union needs to persuade an EU public wary of globalization that it will profit from more trade. This has led it to demand more from would-be partners, increasing the risk of failure or delay.
For the past three years, the EU's trade agenda has been dominated by Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks with the United States. Following the U.S. election, they are "frozen".
EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom said in a March speech, however, that TTIP was not the only game in town.
"As other doors are closing, we should be clear to them (trade partners) that ours will remain open," she said.
With the twin shock of Trump's election and Britain's vote to leave the European Union, Malmstrom has said there has never been a more important time to defend openness.
Yet it is unclear if the EU's vow to "shape" the economic order with open trade deals will convince skeptical Europeans and limit the appeal of politicians such as French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen who decries "rampant globalization".
For the EU as a whole, this year could prove a crucial one after early, albeit difficult, success of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Sorin Moisa, a center-left member of the European Parliament who helped steer CETA through and is now the parliament's point person for a potential EU-Mexico deal, said the EU should move beyond CETA.
"We should have at least another major achievement and we also need to take a major step in terms of our response to globalization against the double backdrop of Trump and Brexit," he said.