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冯德莱恩遭拍打 我们是欧盟不是美国

(2023-06-11 07:21:38) 下一个

冯德莱恩推不动这项对华政策:我们是欧盟,不是美国

2023年06月10日  文观察者网 张菁娟

  在欧盟准备公布对华“经济去风险”路线图之际,部分欧盟成员国提出了异议。

  香港《南华早报》10日援引五名外交官和其他参与讨论的人士的话报道称,在本周三(7日)的一次会议上,来自法国、德国、意大利和荷兰的外交官对欧盟委员会主席冯德莱恩办公室主任塞伯特(Bjorn Seibert)在一次演讲中提到的“国家安全”表示担忧,一些成员国警告称,欧盟不应“模仿”美国对中国的态度。

 
EU's 'de-risaking' plan for China meet

  一位高级官员透露,一些欧盟成员国直言“我们是欧洲,不是美国”,他们担心,欧盟将贸易政策和“国家安全”混为一谈。

  报道称,本月20日,欧盟委员会将公布一项新的经济安全战略的早期提案,该提案不会直接针对中国,但在起草过程中考虑到了中国的影响。

  3月30日,冯德莱恩首次宣布将提出这项经济安全战略,她当时表示,有必要减少欧盟对中国的依赖。4月18日,欧盟委员会主席冯德莱恩再次强调欧洲必须要制定一个“连贯的、独特的”对华战略,核心必须是“经济去风险化”。冯德莱恩重申其一贯看法,即欧洲需平衡与中国的关系,降低对华依赖、降低对华关系中一些“重要且敏感领域”的风险,但称之为“避险”,而非“脱钩”。

  据报道,提案将包括对外投资审查,这将限制欧洲公司投资中国的某些领域。

  一名外交官表示,这一提议令成员国感到不安,他们认为欧盟与美国的步调过于相似。

  “虽然塞伯特提出了一个很好的计划,但我们要小心,不要模仿美国人的姿态和措辞。”另一名外交官说道。

冯德莱恩 图源:AFP冯德莱恩 

  比利时布鲁盖尔研究所(Bruegel)的贸易专家大卫·克莱曼(David Kleimann)分析称,从成员国的反应可以明显看出,冯德莱恩在发表与美国相似的对华表态前,没有征求各成员国的意见。

  “这令人惊讶,因为限制资本外流需要得到欧洲理事会的一致同意。此外,成员国在国家安全事务上拥有专属权限。”克莱曼说。

  不过,冯德莱恩仍有一批支持者,他们表示,冯德莱恩曾透露新的经济安全战略中涉及国家安全的部分非常少,仅包括量子计算、人工智能和半导体等特定领域,且绝大多数贸易和投资被视为无风险,不会对成员国造成影响。

  美国消费者新闻与商业频道(CNBC)此前分析认为,欧盟成员在对华政策上有不同看法,一些成员不愿与中国为敌,但也有一些欧盟成员在安全问题上紧跟美国,这造成欧盟对华战略的分裂。

  CNBC称,许多欧盟领导人发现,要想在降低二氧化碳排放方面取得实质性进展,与中国进行对话至关重要。这与美国的观点截然不同,因为美国官员认为与北京完全分离——即所谓的“脱钩”——才是最好的办法。对欧洲而言,他们需要的是降低和规避风险,而不是完全脱离中国。

  欧洲对外关系委员会(ECFR)近日发布的一项多国调查报告也显示,绝大多数欧洲人(74%)支持欧盟加强防卫能力,而不是依赖美国,近半数受访者(43%)将中国视为欧洲的合作伙伴,而非竞争对手。

EU's 'de-risking' plan for China meets resistance from some members

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/eus-risking-plan-china-meets-093000710.html 

South China Morning Post  

As European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen prepares to unveil a road map for "de-risking" economic ties with China, big member states have warned against "mimicking" the "gung ho" approach of United States.

At a breakfast meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, diplomats from France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were among those expressing concern about "national security" references von de Leyen's chief of cabinet, Bjorn Seibert, made in a presentation, according to five diplomats and others party to the discussion.

While there is broad support for reducing Europe's dependencies on China and finding alternative suppliers for critical goods, there are worries that von der Leyen's European Commission is moving too quickly and too expansively.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

The "cool and cautious" feedback from some the bloc's most powerful members, said a senior official, was: "We are Europe, not the United States."

Some capitals worry that Brussels is veering onto their turf by conflating trade policy with "national security".

"National security means national security," one western European diplomat said, a reminder that the EU has no domain over its members' individual policies in this area.

An early-stage proposal for the new economic security strategy - which will not directly target China, but which has been drafted with it in mind - is due on June 20, having been first announced by von der Leyen during a speech on China at the end of March.

At that time, she warned of the need to wean Europe off Chinese supplies of critical minerals, and to keep cutting-edge European technologies out of the hands of China's military.

The policy will include outbound investment screening, which would restrict European firms from investing in some sectors of the Chinese economy.

The concept has made western European capitals jittery about Brussels moving too close to Washington, where security has trumped economic rationale when it comes to Beijing, a second diplomat said.

A third added that while Seibert presented "a good overall plan, we need to be careful not to mimic the American in their posture and their words".

"The overall response was pragmatic, we aren't interested in a gung ho approach to China," said a fourth.

The lukewarm response could set the tone for an EU leaders' debate on China later this month, as the 27 top officials mull over an updated policy towards Beijing.

"It is evident from member states' reactions that she did not consult EU governments before rhetorically aligning with the Biden administration on this subject," said David Kleimann, a visiting fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.

"This is surprising, because limitations to outbound capital flows are subject to unanimity in the European Council. Moreover, member states have exclusive competence for national security matters," he added.

The von der Leyen camp is unfazed by the blowback and points to a series of trade weapons pointed at China that were unpopular with EU members initially, only to eventually pass into law.

An anti-coercion instrument designed to tackle China's perceived economic bullying was formally agreed upon this week, less than two years after it was proposed. Initially, free market-minded member states had been extremely uncomfortable with the concept.

Also, von der Leyen's supporters note, she has said that the national security elements of her de-risking proposal would be very limited, to specific tech industries like quantum computing, artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

The vast majority of trade and investment is deemed unrisky, and would not be affected.

Western Europe's anxiety has crept into other areas of EU-China relations as well.

Some members are frustrated that Beijing was not consulted earlier about proposed EU sanctions on eight Chinese companies - some of which have bases in Hong Kong - for funnelling banned European goods to Russia's military.

Relevant EU officials only met with Chinese interlocutors to explain why the firms had been targeted this week, according to a senior EU source, despite reaching out earlier to other countries in a similar position.

"We don't need to tell them everything, but we need to stay engaged, I mean it is China," said a western European diplomat about the delayed approach to Beijing. "We need to explain [things] to China - as always, it's more about respect than consent with them."

The measures, which have been negotiated for the past month, could be finalised as soon as Wednesday as part of a broader package of sanctions, mostly on Russia.

China's ambassador to the EU, Fu Cong, has complained about the lack of consultation and suggested in a recent interview that if presented with evidence he could help close the loopholes through which hi-tech goods used in cruise missiles were being sold to Russia.

Not everyone shares anxieties over a sharper EU turn on China. Many member states from central and eastern Europe are very comfortable with a tougher approach and with greater alignment with the US.

"What we see right now is that the western European capitals tend to regard China-related challenges primarily through the lens of economic security. This is the order of the day and the key discussion," said Grzegorz Stec, an analyst of EU-China relations at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

"In turn, central and eastern European capitals are closer to the [Ukraine] war, making the traditional security lens comparatively stronger," he added.

"Beijing's relationship with Moscow impacts these countries' fundamental safety and brings in more geopolitical dynamics given that Nato and the US act as security guarantors in the region."

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