Europeans tend to be overpessimistic about their economic strengths vis-a-vis China, says Jonathan Story. He looks at the cultural and political forces that have so far shaped their relationship.
This is definitely not a good time to be upbeat about the EU. The unfolding drama of Greek public finances threatens to unravel one of the club’s main achievements in crafting a monetary union of 16 different states, while the non-policy to emerge from the Copenhagen summit on climate change last December was decided over the Commission’s head by a de facto alliance between the US and main emerging market countries of China, Brazil, South Africa, Russia and Brazil. To cap it all, US President Barack Obama decided not to attend May’s EU summit in Madrid to celebrate the Lisbon treaty. The Chinese press tends to describe the European Union as disunited, inward-looking and characterised by low economic growth. And the prevalent mood of pessimism in Brussels about the EU, and the stiffening of China’s resolve to project its national interest into world politics neatly complement each other.
[This article is republished courtesy of INSEAD Knowledge, the portal to the latest business insights and views of The Business School of the World. Copyright INSEAD 2024]