A new world order is emerging, with multiple centres of power. But will this order be multilateral, with governments accepting global rules and institutions? Or will the strongest states assert their interests unilaterally, without regard to international law? The relationship between the EU and China could determine the outcome. If the Europeans can persuade China that multilateralism serves its interests, the international system may tilt towards co-operation rather than competition.

The authors argue that the EU and China should build a strategic partnership focused on global issues that matter o both sides and are best addressed multilaterally: climate change, nuclear proliferation, Africa and maintaining an open system of trade and investment.

1 China and the EU in a multipolar world

Europe’s relationship with China has been mainly commercial. Both sides would benefit from their partnership becoming more political and strategic – and so would the rest of the world. However, rising tensions, over subjects such as trade, climate change and human rights, risk damaging the relationship and disrupting progress
towards closer strategic ties.

Both the EU and China are helping to shape a new international order. For many European observers of international affairs, it is obvious that power is shifting from west to east, and that the world is becoming increasingly multipolar. They see a gradual transition from the hegemonic order of the 1990s, when the US was the sole superpower, to a more complicated international system in which several poles – including Brazil, China, the EU, India, Japan and Russia – have weight or the potential to develop it. Many Europeans are rather relaxed about this evolution, though it makes the more Atlanticist among them feel uncomfortable.

Americans, unsurprisingly, tend to be less sanguine about this trend. Given that some of those who have talked most about multipolarity – including the former French president, Jacques Chirac, and the former Russian president, Vladimir Putin – have also, at times, been very critical of the US, Americans can be forgiven for seeing the concept as anti-American.

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Charles Grant with Katinka Barysch

Charles Grant is director and Katinka Barysch is deputy director of the Centre for European Reform.
ISBN 978 1 901229 83 7 H £10/G16

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Charles Grant has been director of the Centre for European Reform since 1998. He previously worked for Euromoney and The Economist. He is author of ‘Delors: Inside the house that Jacques built’, published in 1994, and numerous CER publications, including, most recently, ‘European choices for Gordon Brown’ and ‘Preparing for the multipolar world: European foreign and security policy in 2020’, both published in 2007.

Katinka Barysch is the CER’s deputy director. Until 2002, she worked as an economist and analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Before that she was a consultant and researcher for the European Commission. Recent CER publications include: (as coauthor) ‘The Lisbon scorecard VIII: Is Europe ready for an economic storm?’, February 2008; ‘Turkey’s role in European energy security’, December 2007; and ‘Russia, realism and EU unity’, July 2007.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR EUROPEAN REFORM

The Centre for European Reform is a think-tank devoted to improving the quality of the debate on the European Union. It is a forum for people with ideas from Britain and across the continent to discuss the many political, economic and social challenges facing Europe. It seeks to work with similar bodies in other European countries, North America and elsewhere in the world.

The CER is pro-European but not uncritical. It regards European integration as largely beneficial but recognises that in many respects the Union does not work well. The CER therefore aims to promote new ideas for reforming the European Union.

FORWARD

The rise of China is now one of the principal strategic issues facing the transatlantic community. While it first assumed prominence during the spat over the lifting of the EU arms embargo, Europeans and Americans are now as likely to encounter China when addressing policy towards Iran, Africa, or Central Asia as when dealing with traditional East Asian security issues.

As China’s global reach and impact grows, dialogue and co-operation between Europe and the United States are going to become ever more important for policy-makers on both sides of the Atlantic, if they are going to shape an effective response. The German Marshall Fund is pleased to be supporting and organising a range of events and research exploring these issues, and to have been working with the Centre for European Reform on a number of them. This excellent paper is one of the first to look at EU-China relations in a fully global context and should be required reading for Europeans and Americans alike.

Ron Asmus
Executive Director, Transatlantic Center
The German Marshall Fund of the United States

The German Marshall Fund of the United States is a non-partisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting greater co-operation and understanding between the United States and Europe.

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