Advertisement
EU’s plans for tougher China stance risk coming off the rails as splits emerge on multiple issues
- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a de-risking strategy last year, but opposition from member states threatens to scupper some key measures
- Two key players, France and Germany, are divided on issues such as solar power, electric vehicle imports and supply chains
Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
81
Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has built an image over the past year as the continent’s toughest talker on China.
Advertisement
But just months before the end of her first term in office, a string of high-minded legislative moves and actions targeting Beijing have run into political reality as the wheels appear to be coming off its combative agenda.
Governments are already trying to head off a lurch to the far-right ahead of European Parliament elections, sparking a bonfire of green and social legislation, while also facing the possibility Donald Trump will return to power in the United States.
Bickering between European Union member states has also stepped up a notch, shaking the fragile unity on core issues such as Ukraine.
Meanwhile, splits are emerging on China, with France and Germany at odds on everything from solar energy and electric vehicles to trade deals and supply chains.
Advertisement
“There is no such thing as a Franco-German couple any more, it just doesn’t work … the division on China is typical of that,” said a French diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Last month the EU suspended a World Trade Organization dispute with Beijing over its alleged economic coercion of Lithuania. The Baltic state saw its exports to China collapse after it allowed a controversially named Taiwanese government office to open in Vilnius in late 2021.
Advertisement