In response to the Ukrainian conflict, which underscored Europe’s dependence on Russia for its oil and gas needs, the European Union has proposed a plan to safeguard the economy of the bloc, against threats caused by unreliable suppliers in nations that do not uphold its ideals, such as China.
The bloc’s Executive body, the European Commission, has been working to enact regulations to safeguard trade and investment, notably in the tech and communication industries, which competitors could try to use for military or security reasons.
The Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen implied that, the idea must be approved by EU member nations because, “the world has become more contested and geopolitical, and there is a limited set of key technologies that can be used in a different and aggressive way.”
According to von der Leyen, ‘given the changing nature of the risks, we now need a strategic vision for how we are going to handle these risks.” She also claimed that, the EU needs to be “more assertive” in how it employs the resources at its disposal, to address issues and create new ones.
The proposals have been marketed as “country agnostic,” because no specific targeted countries have been identified. However, the proposals are in line with the commission’s new initiative to “de-risk” its ties with China without fully “decoupling,” as it depends on the Asian power to address global issues like climate change.
Moreover, Von der Leyen disclosed, European companies’ resources, knowledge, and research must not be abused by countries of concern, for their military purposes. She specifically expressed worries on the safety of 5G and 6G telecom networks.
The Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE have been regarded as high-risk providers by the commission. It has recently supported initiatives by some of the 27 EU members, to ban the two firms from using their 5G networks.
The new initiatives seek to maintain commerce while strengthening European economies and supply systems so they can withstand dangers such as energy shortages or inflation increases brought on by the war. According to the plan, the EU would collaborate with nations that share its concerns about economic security.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the commission, stated that “we cannot treat a supply dependency on a systemic rival the same as we would treat that dependency on an ally.”
Additionally, cybersecurity concerns and dangers to vital infrastructure, such as pipelines, underwater cables, power plants, and transportation networks, must also be addressed. Threats presented by nations, attempting to alter EU policies through trade or investment would also be addressed.
Unifying EU member states around the goal would be difficult, because each of this has its own national policy toward nations like China and Russia. The plan would likely be discussed by EU leaders at their summit in Brussels.
EU members like Hungry and Slovakia have had good ties with one of the bloc’s fiercest rival, Russia. At the height of sanctions on Russian , for invading Ukraine, the two nations were still buying oil from Russia. Also, Russia and China have managed to build ties with other nations that EU consider to be reliable partners.
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