European Foreign Policy Choices in the Aftermath of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Csaba Moldicz[1]
Abstract
This paper seeks to answer the question of how the member of the European Union responded in term of their foreign policies to the challenges posed by the coronavirus and the ensuing growing tensions in the world economy and world politics. At the beginning of 2020, Brexit and the surrounding uncertainty was high on the political agenda of the EU members, however, in the light of the Covid-19 and the subsequent economic crisis, the topic slid back to the less frequented questions of the EU.
Germany took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU in July 2020, thus the focus of the paper is set on exploring what the German government seeks to achieve during its presidency.
The challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis is multifaceted because not only the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027) have been crucial this year, but how Europeans approach several foreign policy questions, is a the key element in understanding the current situation and forecasting a short- and medium scenario.
The paper attempts to explore the following recent debates:
- What is the reasonable European reaction to the growing tensions between the US and China?
- What does the Transatlantic Dialogue on China mean in reality?
- How can we frame the reciprocity debate, in other words, how should the EU react to Chinese high-tech firms’ presence in Europe and what can the EU anticipate as a response from China, when it comes to European firms’ access to the Chinese market?
- What are the chances of signing the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement at the end of this year?
The paper relies on the analysis of existing literature (relevant press materials, interviews, and studies), and it also attempts to provide the reader with a reasonable forecast. At the same time, the analysis of long-term trends is included in this paper too.
Keywords: Foreign Policy, EU, Germany, France, US, China, Covid-19
[1] Associate Professor, Ph.D., Budapest Business School, University of Applied Sciences, Head of Research, Oriental Business and Innovation Center, Non-resident Research Fellow of the China-CEE Institute, Budapest, Hungary