Phil Hogan, the European Commission's trade chief | Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/European Union EU moves to outflank Trump on trade The decision to set up an alternative to the world’s highest trade court with 16 countries carries risks for Europe.

The EU's announcement Friday that it is launching a parallel World Trade Organization court to circumvent the United States in Geneva is the clearest sign to date of a more muscular "geopolitical" Commission.

It is also the bloc's riskiest bargain.

Last December, the world's main trade court no longer had enough judges to function. The U.S. had been blocking the appointment of judges to the WTO's Appellate Body, the highest dispute resolution panel, accusing the court of being too soft on its archrival China.

WTO nations that wanted to save the multilateral trade order wondered what to do next. Without the court to adjudicate disputes independently, global trade risked reverting to a system where economic muscle was all that mattered. Their response came on Friday, by setting up a parallel WTO court without the U.S.

Announcing the new agreement, EU trade chief Phil Hogan insisted it is only a temporary stop-gap. “Let me underline again that this remains a contingency measure needed because of the paralysis of the WTO Appellate Body. We will continue our efforts to seek a lasting solution to the Appellate Body impasse,” Hogan said.

Brussels believes it has scored a major victory to keep the multilateral trading system alive and prevent future trade wars, by agreeing to set up a binding trade dispute appeals arbitration with 16 other countries, including China and Brazil. The new system will function without the U.S., which has suffocated the WTO's built-in tribunal by vetoing any appointments of judges.

Friday's move inevitably puts the EU and China on the same side of the table in Geneva, as the two major trade powers that are trying to maintain the current WTO system and rules. Washington has argued that it makes no sense to rebuild a WTO court before members have agreed on radically new rules that take into account China's system of state capitalism.

Critics warn that the EU risks isolating the United States in Geneva. Brussels insists this is not its intention.

"This agreement is not directed against anyone. It’s not the EU working with one other country against another but a group of countries working together to set up a temporary alternative," said an EU official.

The deal helps prevent the world trade system returning to the law of the jungle. Since the Appellate Body was on life support, countries that wanted to resolve their trade dispute could still ask for a WTO ruling, but the winner would be unable to enforce the ruling since an appeal from the losing party would slide into legal limbo. That way, international trade disputes may never see a resolution and could quickly evolve into tariff wars. This agreement is a temporary fix for that scenario.

However, it wouldn't be the first time that a temporary patch becomes permanent for lack of a better agreement.

It is also unclear how the new system would cope with disputes emerging because of agreements with the United States, which will not feel bound by it. For example, many trade experts — including the Commission itself — believe China and the U.S. probably broke WTO rules with their "phase one" deal which forces China to buy a certain amount of U.S. products, rather than letting market forces decide.

An EU official said it is too early to say whether the EU would be able to sue China under the new system for its agreement with Washington.