The EU's China policy in the light of the Belt and Road Initiative implementation

Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali. 2020. No. 4. P. 553–562.

Chizhevskaya M., Nosov M. G.

The nature of relations between the EU and China is complex. This complexity is well summed up by the triad ‘partner’ - ‘competitor’ - ‘systemic rival’, originally used in the European report “EU-China – A strategic outlook”, issued in March 2019. It was the first time, when the EU officially used relatively tough rhetoric towards China. Previously European politicians and bureaucrats tended to address to Chinese practices with less rigor, than, for example, their American counterparts. The article suggests that this change in narrative towards China started in 2016 and was fueled by the implementation of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the European continent, namely, by the purchase of European strategic infrastructure assets and construction of transport infrastructure in Greece, Hungary and other countries. This implementation contradicts European principles of transparency, sustainability, reciprocity in market access and guaranteeing a level playing field for both sides. The EU is struggling to promote a unified approach towards China, but this task is not easy, as the split in attitude to China between European core countries and Central and Eastern European member states is getting deeper. Italy’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with China in March 2019 complicates this situation even further. This article analyses what influence the BRI exerted on the EU, and how it responded to this initiative. The text is divided into 3 main parts. The introduction gives a review of the EU-China relations overall and its recent trends. The first part is devoted to the EU’s reaction to the BRI implementation, the second to the challenges the BRI poses to the EU, and the third to changes in the EU’s official rhetoric towards China.

Keywords: концепция «Новый Шелковый Путь», Belt and Road Initiative, Один пояс, один путь, China's new silk roads, EU-China relations, отношения между ЕС и Китаем