Union out of crisis mode but focus falls on China's role
Last September when European Parliament members held their first plenary after the summer break, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered a gloomy speech, saying the 28-member bloc was in "existential crisis".
Back then, the United Kingdom had decided to leave the European Union, terror attacks were spreading, the waves of populism were picking up and the flooding in of immigrants was a headache.
Although those challenges still exist, they are ebbing. Analysts said Juncker has very good reasons to feel "different, optimistic" than last year when he gives his annual address in the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg on Wednesday.
However, he may come up with a legislation proposal to closely monitor foreign investment at the European level, especially coming from China, while the European economy is on a growth track and the jobless rate has reduced to the lowest point since the financial crisis.
At the same time, the Netherlands and France have left the danger of populism behind while the general election in Germany on Sept 24 will almost certainly keep Angela Merkel in her role as chancellor.
All of which make Shada Islam, director of geopolitics in the Brussels-based think tank Friends of Europe, believe "this September will be different from last one".
"After experiencing the so-called existential crisis, the EU can move forward, which will make Juncker give a different speech," Islam said.
In an early interview, the European Commission confirmed it has set up a working group to explore "possible actions" to screen foreign takeovers in the EU's strategic sectors, a move that observers said might target China but may be opposed by many member states due to their sovereignty concerns and its anti-growth nature.
"Juncker has set up a dedicated Commissioners' Group on Trade and Harnessing Globalization to elaborate first possible actions," an anonymous source from the European Commission said.
Islam said Brussels' new proposal aims to let Beijing open its market wider, but it is not right for it to come up with a new mechanism for foreign investment at the moment.
"In the middle of the drive to open this market, the EU is bringing a new mechanism, which goes in an opposite way. I think it would send a damaging message, which comes as a signal of protectionism to the rest of the world," Islam said.
Some believe this policy is targeted at China because its European investment has soared in recent years.
"I think Juncker is serious in turning his proposal into European regulation and law as many in Europe have noticed that Chinese investment has grown so fast in Europe," said Men Jing, professor of College of Europe in Brugge in Belgium.
Men said the EU might take "faster-than-expected" steps to put the screening policy in place, though this procedure has already existed in member states.
Men said China should start to coordinate with the EU to make sure that this policy does not affect the development of bilateral investment and trade activities.
Islam said what the EU should do is to keep the market open and fight against those who want to condemn globalization.
"The EU is serious about fighting protectionism and doing trade with Singapore, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Australia," she said. "It is a very good signal from Europe about its intention to keep this market open and to keep trade flowing."
But Fredrik Erixon, director of Brussels-based think tank European Center for International Political Economy, doesn't think this new screening mechanism is just targeting China, while the media coverage in Europe has played up that the bloc's motion of strengthening regulation in strategic sectors is pointing at China's growing investment flow.
"China is in the limelight because it has resourceful investors and because there has been a number of high-profile M&As by Chinese firms. But a policy like this is also argued on the basis of non-Chinese concerns," Erixon said.
fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 09/13/2017 page12)
