Whether this is a matter of the EU asserting its “strategic autonomy,” fear of Chinese retaliation, or both, the news that the EU has, to an extent, parted ways from the U.S. on the question of trade with China is another reminder that, if things get rough over Taiwan, the EU’s support is by no means assured (to put it mildly).
The European Union stripped out explicit references to China as a non-market economy in its joint trade strategy with the US.
In a negotiation that highlighted lingering hesitations over Washington’s more confrontational approach to China, EU nations agreed on a watered-down text of joint conclusions from a meeting of EU-US Trade and Technology Council in northern Sweden that starts Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter. The document is still awaiting US signoff.
Several references to China were removed after a number of EU countries objected to earlier drafts. The newest version, obtained by Bloomberg, also softens earlier language where the two sides planned to agree on aligning their approaches for screening outbound investments.
The near-final text highlights that while EU countries are becoming tougher on China — embracing the idea of “de-risking” as laid out by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this spring — they’re still not willing to adopt the more hawkish US line. Countries like France and Italy in internal meetings pushed against various references targeting China’s economic practices, said the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.
I wrote a bit about the EU’s China conundrum here.