By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders are set on Friday to commit to reducing the bloc’s dependence on China and debate how to strike the balance between “de-risking” and engaging in areas such as climate change.
“This is the million euro question,” Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told reporters on his arrival at the two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday.
“We need to de-risk and that means being able to step back to some degree because geopolitically the apparently growing relationship between China and Russia is a potential problem for all of us,” he said.
Draft conclusions for the summit call on China to press Russia to stop the war in Ukraine and express concern about growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, while stressing a shared interest in stable relations to tackle global challenges.
EU leaders will seek on Friday to present a united front, but there are clear differences between countries such as France and Germany, with sizeable business interests in China, and Lithuania, on which Chinese has imposed sanctions.
The conclusions, which could still be changed, say the European Union will reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, including in supply chains, and will de-risk and diversify where necessary.
“The European Union does not intend to decouple or to turn inwards,” the conclusions say.
The 27-nation European Union has since 2019 considered China a partner, competitor and system rival. Some EU officials have more recently said the role of competitor is more central.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in March that a hardening of China’s position required Europe to “de-risk” both economically and diplomatically.
The Commission is also urging EU members to agree to stronger controls on exports and outflows of technologies to military use by “countries of concern”, with China clearly in mind. The EU executive aims to present proposed measures by the end of the year.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing the Daniel Wallis)
