Can the EU effectively tackle the circumvention of its Russia sanctions without jeopardizing relations with China? This question arises in Sweden. A proposal by the EU Commission is explosive.
The foreign ministers of the EU states will discuss the latest developments in the war in Ukraine at an informal meeting in Sweden this Friday. The focus of the talks is continued support for the country attacked by Russia. At least marginally, it should also be about proposals from the EU Commission for an eleventh package of sanctions against Russia. Above all, it is intended to combat the circumvention of the penal measures that have already been issued.
The second major topic of the meeting will be the EU’s relations with China. In a keynote speech at the end of March, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen advocated rebalancing relations with the world’s most populous country. She emphasized that the EU must become more independent and minimize economic risks, for example in the supply chains of European companies. However, it is not in the interest of the EU to decouple itself from China.
The topic is explosive not least because of the country’s position on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. To date, the government in Beijing has not condemned the invasion. Chinese companies are accused of being involved in circumventing EU sanctions on Russia. This is one of the reasons why the EU Commission has now proposed for the eleventh package of sanctions to create the legal possibility of restricting selected exports to certain third countries due to suspected circumvention of sanctions.
According to diplomats, however, the initiative is not viewed unreservedly positively by all EU countries. The danger is that some member states may not have the courage or the will to put countries like China on such a list because of possible retaliatory measures. In this case, the instrument would only help if its mere existence had a deterrent effect. This is because the approval of all 27 EU states would be required for the listing of each country and each product.
Germany is one of the countries for which China is economically very important. The People’s Republic was Germany’s most important trading partner for the seventh time in a row last year – ahead of the USA. According to preliminary information from the Federal Statistical Office, goods worth 298.6 billion euros were traded in 2022 (exports and imports).
For Germany, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) will travel to the meeting in a conference center near the Swedish capital Stockholm. A ministerial forum on cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region will also be organized on Saturday at the same location. But Baerbock wants to be represented by Minister of State Tobias Lindner.
Source: Stern
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