China

The essential components needed to grow the modern economy include chips and semiconductors, solar panels and batteries for electric cars. All of these are imported into Europe from Asian countries instead of manufacturing capacity being built here. Viktor Daňek, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute, said it is necessary to open a debate on the reform of the common budget and new revenues.

The European Union economically lags behind the United States of America and China. The recent meeting in Brussels reflected concerns about a slowdown in the EU economy, which entered 2024 with lower-than-expected growth. EUROPEUM Institute analyst Vít Havelka commented on this situation for ČRo Plus.

The anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the European Union are not having the desired effect. After two years, it is becoming clear that the sanctions are hitting the Russian economy, but are not preventing them from being circumvented, with Asian countries, led by China, playing a major role. Thus, the Union included several companies from China and Hong Kong in the February round of sanctions. Viktor Danek, deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, commented on the possible consequences in a report for the main broadcast news TV Nova.

The European Union will step up its efforts to reduce its dependence on China in the future. This was demonstrated by a unanimous vote of MEPs on the risks of growing Chinese influence on Europe's critical infrastructure on Wednesday. Our research fellow Zuzana Krulichová commented on the EU's current economic policy towards China for Ekonomický deník.

Join the next debate in the EU± series and hear experts' views on China's ambitions in the South China Sea. The discussion will take place on Wednesday 20 December 2023 at 17:30 online on our Facebook page.

The report provides a summary of a public event organized by EUROPEUM's Brussels Office, in collaboration with CEPS, as part of the Think Visegrad platform on November 27th. The event was named "EU-India relations: A partnership beyond trade." Panelists included Alica Kizekova, Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague, Zsolt Trembeczki, Research Fellow at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA), and Fanny Sauvignon, Researcher at the Foreign Policy Unit of CEPS.

The EU countries have decided that the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines will end by 2035 at the latest. Although this is a highly controversial move in the Czech Republic, it is unlikely to be of much significance in the context of the global new car market. The new Euro 7 emissions standard will be the same. Our Senior Research Fellow Vít Havelka commented on this topic.

As part of the Café Evropa debate cycle, one of the discussions took place on the relationship and approach between the European Union and China. Among those invited were Magdaléna Slezáková, Ondřej Wagner, David Gardáš and Zdeněk Beránek. You can read a summary of the outputs of individual guests in the report written by our intern Eliška Prostřední.

We would like to invite you to an online debate as part of the Café Evropa series, this time on the topic "EU-China relations - will the current crisis transform the relationship between the two great powers?" The debate will take place on Monday 20 March at 17:30 online on our Facebook page.

In 2013, the Chinese president introduced the New Silk Road project, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative. It was to connect China with countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and maritime regions with the purpose to coordinate policies and link infrastructure. However, the initiative, and especially China's role in it, raises many questions and doubts. What is its future? This is what our intern Šárka Váchalová discusses in her blog.

We would like to invite you to the debate EU-Pacific Talks: Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Bold vision for bold players. The debate will take place online on Friday, December 16 at 11:00.

The war in Ukraine and the subsequent economic crisis caused by Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuels showed Europeans the danger of keeping too tight economic ties to autocratic regimes. However, while Europe is shedding its dependence on Russia, another economic reliance is gaining strenght, namely that of Germany on China. In her blog, our intern Kristina Kropáčková explores the broader context of this phenomenon and its implications for EU cohesion.