Opinion | What’s ahead for the new EU commission as it addresses the imbalances in China ties
- Mathieu Duchâtel writes that continuity should be expected from the new team under Ursula Von der Leyen on a defensive China policy agenda, focused on rebalancing the trade and investment relationship
A new EU Commission enters in function today. The outgoing Juncker commission has to be credited for recalibrating the China policy of the European Union. It is now standard EU language to define China as a “partner, a strategic competitor and a systemic rival”.
Before 2014, the centre of gravity of Europe’s China policy was how to expand bilateral cooperation under the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Engagement is still the basic policy guideline for handling relations with China, but the European priority has shifted to address the deep asymmetries and imbalances in the EU-China relationship, including through the construction of a toolbox of defensive measures.
This is because, to paraphrase the June 2019 official EU strategic outlook on China, the “balance of challenges and opportunities presented by China has shifted”.
Even if engagement remains its guiding principle, the China policy of the new EU Commission will be dominated by the management of bilateral disagreements
Continuity should be expected from the new team under Ursula Von der Leyen on a defensive China policy agenda, by lack of better options, with a strong focus on rebalancing the trade and investment relationship.
Overall, China policy will be high on the Commission’s agenda, as it intersects with several of the institution’s larger priorities: the adaptation of Europe to the new digital age; defence of a rules-based international order; promotion of an open and fair-trade agenda; external promotion of the highest standards of climate, environmental and labour protection; and determining how to support innovation in Europe in the face of international competition.