Decision Time or the Moment of Truth for China and the EU?

Decision Time or the Moment of Truth for China and the EU?

By Kerry Brown

 
The Eurozone crisis brings into sharp relief the change in power dynamics between the EU and China. It also raises, for the Chinese and others, big questions about the unity of EU political decision making, even in a period of great need. The crisis has clarified China’s new expectations of Europe, and has made the Europeans think very hard about what they might want from the Chinese—and at what cost. Finally, the crisis reveals the immediate need for institutional reform in Europe, which has been concealed persistently under the EU’s highly aspirational language. Beijing now seems to feel it can comment openly on this issue because of the evident failure of many EU structures in coping with the burgeoning economic crisis.

 

READ MORE