Engin Eroglu, MEP and Vice-President of the European Democratic Party, reacts to Manfred Weber’s call for a significantly tougher European Union policy towards China: “Yes, competition with China is complex and often unfair. Yes, Chinese subsidies and Europe’s growing economic dependence on Beijing are serious problems. It is quite insightful of Manfred Weber to recognise this now. What is embarrassing, however, is that he and his political family helped create many of the weaknesses Europe is now facing.”
According to Eroglu, Weber is once again trying to hide Europe’s structural problems behind tough rhetoric on China: “That may be enough for headlines, but it does not solve Europe’s real problem,” says Eroglu, who is also Deputy Federal Chairman of Freie Wähler. “The key question is not only how Europe should respond to China. The key question is why China has become more successful than Europe in so many industries of the future.”
While China invests strategically, Europe is still too often slowed down by fragmented markets, national barriers, lengthy procedures and rules that are not always matched by the right incentives. Under a Commission President from Weber’s own political family, Europe has too frequently announced ambitions without creating the conditions to deliver them. The result is that innovation, industrial scale and competition are too often held back inside Europe itself, to Europe’s own disadvantage.
Eroglu continues: “Of course, Europe must clearly identify and decisively address unfair competition, market distortions and strategic dependencies. We cannot be naïve about China, and we should not accept practices that undermine European companies, workers and strategic interests. But anyone who believes Europe can regain competitiveness mainly through trade conflicts, punitive measures or symbolic toughness is confusing causes with symptoms. Europe does not need louder rhetoric. Europe needs the capacity to act.”
For Eroglu, the answer lies in a stronger and more pragmatic European economic strategy: more innovation, more investment, less unnecessary bureaucracy, faster approval procedures, better incentives for companies, and a real European industrial policy capable of competing globally: “China consistently pursues its own interests. Europe should finally start doing the same. Anyone constantly talking about China should also explain why Europe has fallen behind in so many future technologies. Europe’s future will not be decided by how loudly we speak against China. It will be decided by how strong, innovative and united we make Europe”. “The fact that Weber fails to understand this is disappointing and alarming. Perhaps he is too occupied with the power struggle within the CSU and with the significant loss of voter support, particularly in Bavaria, where recent local election results have been sobering,” Eroglu concludes.
