MERICS Policy Brief: Updating the EU action plan on China: De-risk, engage, coordinate

At a glance

• The EU’s China policy needs recalibration: Since the unveiling of the EU-China Strategic Outlook in 2019, the EU has made significant progress in developing a range of defensive policies. Yet the bloc now needs to update the Strategic Outlook’s action points to reflect changes in China and on the global stage.
• Update, not redraw: The new action plan can continue to be guided by the three-pronged approach (cooperation partner, economic competitor, systemic rival), but should account for the growing weight of the latter two components in EU-China relations.
• We propose three baskets of policy action:
  • De-risk: mitigate the EU’s strategic dependence on and vulnerabilities to China
  • Engage: establish a baseline for cooperation with China in areas of common interest
  • Coordinate: increase synergy on China-related knowledge within the EU and among partners
• Build up own capacity to act: An updated action plan on China would expand autonomous measures to ensure that European strategic interests can be secured, even when China or other partners do not embrace the EU’s proposals for multilateral solutions.
• Seek cooperation but prepare for lack thereof: An updated plan should continue to seek cooperative measures with China while being aware of Beijing’s readiness to use talks as means for strategic stalling.
• Create structures to boost European unity towards China: It is needed more than ever. Systematizing alignment processes among European institutions, member states and relevant stakeholders can help to improve internal alignment.