The EU-China relationship: a key to the 21st century order

For the EU, China’s opening up to the world is a test. Brussels is in the process of conceiving an ambitious and comprehensive foreign policy towards Beijing but, for both internal and external reasons (a lack of general European cohesiveness and the influence of the US), is finding it difficult to fully implement it. Even if there is no necessary contradiction between a strong Euro-Chinese link and the traditional –and vital– transatlantic relationship, a positive triangulation between the EU/US and China would require a politically united EU willing to act as a strategic player in world affairs. In that sense, for the world’s largest trading block, the integration of one-fifth of mankind into what we call the mainstream is not only a test but also an impulse for further political deepening. Europe is being asked to face its historical responsibility, and this task might help focus the Union’s energies and divert it from other issues, perhaps more urgent, but certainly less important.