Europe debates ‘de-risking’ challenge with China

EUROPEAN policy towards China is increasingly being framed by senior politicians as one of “de-risking” rather than “decoupling”. However, there is little conceptual clarity on what this means with the increasing possibility of European Union (EU) policy failure, rather than success.

The debate over “de-risking” versus “decoupling” has been turbocharged by recent interventions by key political leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Ahead of her recent trip to Beijing, she rightly reiterated that “it is neither viable nor in Europe’s interest to decouple from China” in a manner that she has sometimes characterised as being the policy of the United States.

Von der Leyen, instead, advocates a more modest form of cautious engagement with Beijing, which she calls “de-risking”. While this may be a politically viable distinction, it still lacks conceptual clarity in a debate that will have enormous implications in the months to come for Europe.