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The Strategic Partnership between the European Union and China is perhaps a misnomer. It is rather a case of two major international actors ‘living with their differences’. How much longer can it last? This talk will address some drivers of change and continuity in China-EU relations.
The turbulence of the current decade (whether resulting from the Covid pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine) has put more strain on the uneasy political relationship between China and the EU. China’s record on human rights was invoked by the European Parliament as the reason for not approving an EU-China investment agreement. The stalling of economic reform in China under President Xi and the growing importance of innovative technologies for economic development has reduced openness between the two sides. The EU is actively planning to ‘de-risk’ its economy in relation to China.
However, significant drivers for maintaining an EU-China partnership are still there. The degree of economic interdependence between the EU and China, combined with the currently weak performance of their economies, argue against rapid disengagement. In some policy areas, such as climate change and environmental sustainability, the EU and China have similar priorities and an interest in advancing international solutions. Both sides have other pressing problems to address in the short term. And the EU still faces difficulties in agreeing and managing a common foreign policy.
This talk will assess the direction of travel of EU-China relations and point to critical events later this year that may provide additional guidance.
John Farnell has been an Associate of the Oxford University China Centre since 2017 and was previously an Academic Visitor and EU Visiting Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, following a career in the European Commission. He has a particular interest in EU-China relations and co-authored a book on ‘The Politics of EU-China Economic Relations: An Uneasy Partnership’ with Professor Paul Irwin Crookes, published in 2016 by Palgrave McMillan.
