Why Malmström should be the US pick for the OECD

This month, a new Secretary-General of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development must be selected by its member states. Of the 10 candidates who stepped forward last autumn, only two remain. The choice matters a great deal, including to the United States, because of the importance of the institution.

The OECD is sometimes described as a think tank, drawing on a plethora of experts in policy areas such as education, digitalization, entrepreneurship, migration, aid, trade, taxes and much more. By sharing ideas and data it can help provide solutions to the most urgent issues on the global agenda.

During my service as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, I had the pleasure of working closely with Cecilia Malmström when she was EU Commissioner, first for Home Affairs and then for Trade. I always found her extremely well-prepared, practical and simply a pleasure to deal with. She is a trans-Atlanticist to the core.

She worked closely with the United States to negotiate and implement two critical agreements providing substantial security benefits to both sides of the Atlantic: an agreement on passenger name records that enables law enforcement authorities to use information provided by passengers when they book tickets and when they check in for flights; and an agreement enabling the U.S. government to access financial messaging data held by SWIFT under the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program. Even though the U.S. and EU failed to complete our free trade negotiations under the Obama administration, we worked well with her on even the toughest issues. Malmström carried on negotiating important parts of the transatlantic trade agenda, such as agreements on goods and tariffs, with the Trump administration. 

I believe that she is well placed to take over the stewardship of the OECD thanks to her unique combination of academic accomplishment and political experience. For the past 60 years the OECD has been led by men. It is about time that it be led by a woman.

She has a Ph.D in political science and can be trusted to hold the OECD to the highest standards when it carries out its studies, reports and policy proposals. It is important for the credibility of its work that it is scientific and evidence-based and that policy makers get the best possible input when taking decisions that determine our future. She also has significant political experience at the highest levels of government. Before serving as EU commissioner for two terms, she served as a member of the European Parliament and as a member of the Swedish government.

She had an extraordinary record achievement as EU Commissioner for Trade. The EU’s achievement in finalizing trade agreements with Canada, Mexico, Japan, Mercosur and Vietnam is due in no small measure to her vision, communications skills, energy and ability to bring together coalitions. Under her leadership, chapters on trade and sustainable development, with references to the Paris climate accord, became a standard feature in trade agreements. She understands the importance of modernizing world trade rules to cope with the challenge of China and its abusive behavior; manifested, for example, in huge state subsidies, forced technology transfers and highly restrictive market access. She regards the way China has grown as a threat to fairness and a level playing field.

The OECD will play an important role in planning for a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will, for example, gather evidence, analyze the impact of measures governments choose to implement and elaborate policy responses to tackle the various health and social challenges linked to the crisis. It will continue to be the key forum for developing multilateral rules for taxation in the digital economy. And it will play a key role in providing policy analysis and prescriptions relating to climate change. Malmström’s stance on climate change has been robust and consistent. It would be regrettable if the OECD were to be led by someone who has downplayed the challenge.

I believe that Malmström would be an excellent choice to lead the OECD forward. 

Anthony Gardner served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union during 2014-2017