When Sisyphus met Icarus: EU-China Economic Relations during the Eurozone Crisis

The Europe-China economic relationship was too big, and too well developed, to fail, but the protection of past achievements was the only factor keeping EU-China policy relations in balance. Cooperation on trade and investment was fraught with misunderstanding, offended egos, discontent, and anger. Beijing and Brussels seemed content to wait for China’s new leadership to take office before they attempted to deepen economic and commercial policy cooperation, but there was little reason to believe that the bilateral relationship would radically improve under changes in the Chinese capital. The EU had tried time and time again to pressure China into opening more of its market to European exports by threatening to cut access to its own markets if Beijing does not comply. And China had repeatedly tried to bypass Brussels in its negotiations with Europe, preferring instead to work through member states. But a fractured EU would have negative long-term consequences for China and its economic interests.