Competition Chief Urges Eu To Talk To China — And Defend Its Own Interests

BRUSSELS — The EU needs to pursue political dialogue with China, its Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera told POLITICO.

The intervention by the Spanish number two in Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission comes at a critical moment as Brussels holds high-stakes talks with Beijing on ways to reduce the EU’s €1-billion-a-day trade deficit with China.

Von der Leyen is expected to outline ways to strengthen the EU’s trade defenses against a Chinese export glut before EU leaders take stock of the trade negotiations at a summit in mid-October.

While the Commission has taken a hawkish line on China, big EU economies have only recently begun to harden their stance. France has led a push for stronger trade protections and Germany is showing signs of coming round. But Ribera’s home country continues to favor an open relationship.

“Political dialogue [with China] is very important,” Ribera said in an interview at her office in the Berlaymont on Monday.

Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is spearheading the bloc’s efforts to convince Beijing to rein in exports to the EU, which Brussels says benefit from unfair and substantial state support. 

He was in Berlin on Tuesday for talks with German government and business leaders, and will meet with European CEOs next week, after von der Leyen’s annual address to the European Parliament, to seek their feedback on the EU executive’s push to diversify supply chains away from China.

Shared concerns

Concern about China is “entirely shared” by the 27-strong College of Commissioners, said Ribera, who added it was important to reach “a broader political understanding” among them as trade relationships cut across many different policy areas. 

Ribera is among the College’s more dovish voices on China. Her comments were, however, a shade less so than those of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who on his last visit to China in April called for “a relationship based on trust, dialogue, and stability.”

“We are learning to work differently with China,” Ribera said of the Commission. 

In the interview, which also covered environmental and competition issues in her remit, Ribera said that the bloc needs to find a new approach to address trade imbalances based on synergies rather than differences: “Not by imposing unilaterally conditions that could be perceived as a threat,” she said, “but ensuring that we comply with the law, ensuring that the tools that are within reach are fully respected.”

The EU should bank on its strengths in global supply chains and find new settings where synergies with third countries can be discussed, Ribera said. 

That doesn’t mean the EU should back down when it comes to defending its industries, she insisted: “I think using also the strengths to defend the hard positions is important — we will not just allow anything.”

The EU executive’s trade department may be leading the show, but trade does not exist in a vacuum, Ribera explained. Although trade is an exclusive EU competence, it is connected to industrial policy, innovation, geopolitics, climate and labor standards. She referenced supply chains as an example: “Is it trade, or is it defense?”

Trade is also “immediately connected to external action,” she added, meaning member countries also have a role in shaping the bloc’s broader approach to China.

Ribera said that broader perspective should also guide the Commission’s trade policy. She pointed to the work of Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, saying he had to weigh “what yes, what no” and develop proposals that met the Council’s “requirements and conditionalities.”

Zia Weise contributed reporting.