Routledge Studies in European Foreign Policy THE EUROPEAN UNION AND CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD IMPACT, ENGAGEMENT AND COMPETITION Edited by Vassilis Ntousas and Stephen Minas The European Union and China’s Belt and Road This book explores key elements of European Union (EU) engagement with the Belt Road Initiative (BRI), drawing on the expertise of leading practitioners and scholars of EU-China relations. Under the theme of discerning the BRI and its nexus with the EU, chapters examine the nature of the BRI as China’s approach to global governance and consider how BRI intersects with the EU as a very different regional integration project. Under the theme of BRI factors in EU law and policy, chapters examine the BRI as a factor in specific domains of EU law and policy, including investment, finance, the environment and the COVID-19 pandemic and consider EU responses. Under the theme of EU Member State experiences, chapters present a series of case studies of individual Member States, their engagement with the BRI and ongoing policy debates. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of International Relations, EU external relations, Chinese public policy and foreign relations, European studies and security studies as well as policymakers dealing with China in EU and Member State institutions. Vassilis Ntousas is Senior International Relations Policy Advisor at the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and an Academy Associate at Chatham House. Stephen Minas is Associate Professor of Law at the School of Transnational Law, Peking University, China, and Senior Research Fellow at the Transnational Law Institute, King’s College London, UK. Routledge Studies in European Foreign Policy This series addresses the standard range of conceptual and theoretical questions related to European foreign policy. At the same time, in response to the intensity of new policy developments, it endeavours to ensure that it also has a topical flavour, addressing the most important and evolving challenges to European foreign policy, in a way that will be relevant to the policy-making and think-tank communities. Series Editors: Richard Whitman, University of Kent, UK, and Richard Youngs, University of Warwick, UK. The Proliferation of Privileged Partnerships between the European Union and its Neighbours Edited by Sieglinde Gstöhl and David Phinnemore EU–Turkey Relations Civil Society and Depoliticization Özge Zihnioğlu The Politics of the European Neighbourhood Policy Agnieszka K. Cianciara European Identities and Foreign Policy Discourses on Russia From the Ukraine to the Syrian Crisis Marco Siddi The EU in Southeast Asian Security The Role of External Perceptions Ronja Scheler EU Regional Trade Agreements An Instrument of Promoting the Rule of Law to Third States Maryna Rabinovych The European Union and China’s Belt and Road Impact, Engagement and Competition Edited by Vassilis Ntousas and Stephen Minas The European Union and China’s Belt and Road Impact, Engagement and Competition Edited by Vassilis Ntousas and Stephen Minas First published 2022 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Vassilis Ntousas and Stephen Minas; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Vassilis Ntousas and Stephen Minas to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Ntousas, Vassilis, editor. | Minas, Stephen, editor. Title: The European Union and China’s Belt and Road : impact, engagement and competition / edited by Vassilis Ntousas and Stephen Minas. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021004852 (print) | LCCN 2021004853 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367422905 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032045467 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367853235 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: European Union. | Yi dai yi lu (Initiative : China) | European Union countries‐‐Foreign economic relations‐‐China. | China‐‐Foreign economic relations‐‐European Union countries. | European Union countries‐‐Economic policy. | China‐‐Economic policy. Classification: LCC HC240.25.C6 .E97 2021 (print) | LCC HC240.25.C6 (ebook) | DDC 337.1/420951‐‐dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021004852 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021004853 ISBN: 978-0-367-42290-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-04546-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-85323-5 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by MPS Limited, Dehradun To my grandparents -Stephen Minas To my parents, Elpida and Panagiotis -Vassilis Ntousas Contents List of Illustrations x List of contributors xi Foreword by Thanos Dokos xiii Acknowledgements xvii PART I Introduction 1 1 Introduction: Facing the Belt and Road from the European Union 3 VASSILIS NTOUSAS AND STEPHEN MINAS PART II Discerning the BRI and its intersections with the European Union 11 2 The Belt and Road Initiative in China’s approach to global governance: Implications for China-EU relations and economic cooperation 13 YUN ZHAO AND HUI CHEN 3 The EU-China diplomacy and the Belt and Road Initiative 29 JING MEN 4 The BRI Kaleidoscope: European Legal Pluralism and BRI Soft Law 42 FRANCIS SNYDER viii Contents 5 The Belt and Road in the single market: Towards an EU legal infrastructure to address the regulatory implications 60 STEVEN BLOCKMANS AND WEINIAN HU PART III Belt and Road Factors in EU law and policy 77 6 Sino-European financial linkages underpinning BRI projects in Europe 79 JENS BASTIAN 7 The Belt and Road Initiative and state-owned enterprises: Is it time for reform of the EU merger control? 96 ALEXANDR SVETLICINII 8 EU-China cooperation on promoting sustainable development under the Belt and Road Initiative—Consensus built on divergence 114 SU XUEJI 9 COVID-19 and EU-China relations 133 MARIO ESTEBAN AND UGO ARMANINI PART IV EU Member State experiences and debates 151 10 France, China and the BRI: The challenge of conditional engagement 153 FRANÇOISE NICOLAS 11 Between commerce and geopolitics: Is there a German China strategy? 170 STEFAN MAIR AND FERDINAND SCHAFF 12 Greece between crisis, opportunity and risk as a key BRI node 188 DIMITRI KOKOROMYTIS AND ANGELOS CHRYSSOGELOS 13 Italy’s embrace of BRI and the role of internal political dynamics 202 ALESSIA AMIGHINI Contents ix 14 China and the Belt and Road Initiative in Europe: The case of Portugal 218 LAURA C. FERREIRA-PEREIRA AND PAULO AFONSO B. DUARTE PART V Conclusion 235 15 Conclusion: The EU’s Belt and Road challenge: Coherence, consolidation and connectivity 237 VASSILIS NTOUSAS AND STEPHEN MINAS Index 245