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Emanuele Scimia

China’s “divide and rule” approach to the European Union suffered a heavy blow after a vote by member states on October 4 allowed the European Commission to move forward with applying tariffs of up to 45 per cent on electric vehicles (EVs) produced in China.
The political pressure applied by Beijing managed to break the consensus within the EU and also succeeded in driving a wedge between Germany and France, the two powers at the core of the European economy. However, it failed to muster enough support to block action on the commission’s anti-subsidy investigation.
According to reports, 10 countries voted in support of tariffs while five voted against and 12 chose to abstain. To derail the proposal, opponents needed a qualified majority of 15 votes, representing 65 per cent of the bloc’s population.
Germany voted against the proposal while France voted in favour. Berlin and Paris have long been China’s principal interlocutors in Europe, but gauging Beijing’s apparent waning allure across the continent requires looking to a smaller EU member: Greece.
Greece was one of the 12 countries abstaining from the vote on tariffs. This could be seen as Athens offering de facto support for the tariffs while also trying to defuse anger and possible economic retaliation from China.
Greece has benefited from Chinese infrastructure investment under the Belt and Road Initiative. Notably, China’s Cosco Shipping Group has a 67 per cent stake in the Piraeus Port Authority and has run the operations of the Mediterranean facility – Europe’s fourth-largest container port – since 2016.

The inflow of Chinese money has coincided with alignment by successive Greek governments with China’s political interests, to a certain degree. In 2016, Greece joined Hungary to force the European grouping to water down its support for a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that rejected China’s claims to a large part of the South China Sea in a case brought by the Philippines. A year later, Athens vetoed EU condemnation of China’s human rights record at the United Nations.
The thinning out of Chinese investment and construction in recent years might have played a role in Athens’ decision to break up its pro-China front with Budapest. According to the China Global Investment Tracker, Beijing has only invested US$110 million in Greece since 2020, which came via a transport project led by Cosco. In 2017, Chinese companies invested US$2.2 billion in energy and technology schemes.
Aside from Hungary, small and medium-sized EU nations are increasingly distancing themselves from China or taking a more cautious stance, particularly after it became clear that Beijing would not make any concrete efforts to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on terms the EU wants. It is not purely by chance that the cooperation mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European countries, established in 2012, has shrunk from a 17+1 format in 2019 to its current 14+1.
The positioning of Serbia, which aims to cultivate good ties with China while also aspiring to join the EU, says something about the limits of Beijing’s Europe strategy. Even here, discussions cannot escape being caught up in the EU-China row over EVs.


In July, the European Commission secured exclusive access to Serbian lithium deposits in a victory for the bloc’s industries, especially European carmakers. The mineral is a key component in the production of batteries for electric vehicles, and its sourcing from Serbia will play into the hands of the EU’s efforts to reduce dependence on imports of strategic materials from China.
The fact that Serbia decided to contribute to the EU’s economic security policy against Beijing is a notable development. It is worth remembering that, as recently as May, during President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Balkan nation, China said it “supports Serbia’s efforts to safeguard its own sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Kosovo issue”.
The future of the former Serbian province, which declared independence in 2008 after years of strife with the central government in Belgrade, is a bone of contention between Serbia and the EU. Xi’s words were likely to add fuel to the bloc’s growing scepticism over China’s declared contribution to European stability.


China could still find its way to an agreement with the EU over the tariffs dispute, even if their respective positions appear far apart. However, the Chinese leadership should learn to directly engage the European Commission if it wants to solve trade disagreements with the bloc. Gone are the days when Beijing could simply call Berlin and Paris to prevent a potential crisis with Europe, as was the case in 2013 when German intervention halted the application of EU levies on imports of Chinese solar panels.
More importantly, the about-turn by Greece and Serbia should help China grasp that, even as its global geopolitical clout is growing – to the detriment of that of the United States – the nature of its relations with partners and friends remains transactional at best.
Beijing lacks the democratic glue that underpins ties between Washington and its European allies. This still matters when it comes to managing relations with old Europe – that is, unless Chinese leaders are happy to make do with the illiberal leaders of often isolated countries.


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(190305) -- BEIJING, March 5, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Aerial photo taken on Feb. 15, 2019 shows the COSCO Shipping Pisces, one of the world's largest container ships with a capacity of 20,000 TEU, approaching Piraeus port, Greece. For many years, growth figure has been the most buzzed-about subject regarding the Chinese economy. Probably because of the "miracle" the Asian giant made with an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 9.5 percent in the past 40 years, far exceeding the 2.9-percent global economic growth in the same period. However, one should not make a fetish of the growth rate. Also, economic slowdown is not necessarily a siren, not to mention a drag on the global growth. China sets the 2019 GDP growth target at 6-6.5 percent, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in his government work report on Tuesday at the opening of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislative body. Though slowing down, China's economy still grew at a medium-hig

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epa07480181 Greek Prime Minister Alexisis Tsipras reacts during the press conference in the Government building, in Skopje, North Macedonia, 02 April 2019. Reports state that Alexis Tsipras is the first Greek Prime Minister to visit North Macedonia since its independence in 1991. EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

(140620) -- ATHENS, June 20, 2014 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L, front) and his Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras (R, front) inspect the Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) near Athens, capital of Greece, June 20, 2014. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) (lmm)

A China Ocean Shipping Group Co. (COSCO) cargo ship sits docked at the Port of Vancouver terminal in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, July 21, 2016. The Port of Vancouver, Canada's biggest, is being hemmed in as property is snapped up for housing, offices, and even movie sets. The regional port authority estimates that the region may run out of industrial land within 10 years, which could push some of its $200 billion of trade to rival gateways. Photographer: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis arrives to make a statement in Athens, Greece July 5, 2015. Greeks voted overwhelmingly "No" on Sunday in a historic bailout referendum, partial results showed, defying warnings from across Europe that rejecting new austerity terms for fresh financial aid would set their country on a path out of the euro. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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Beijing might have successfully split France and Germany, but the actions of Greece and Serbia show the limits of its plans in Europe


Beijing might have successfully split France and Germany, but the actions of Greece and Serbia show the limits of its plans in Europe.


European Union

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How EV tariffs broke EU consensus and China’s ‘divide and rule’ plan

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beijing might have successfully split France and Germany, but the actions of Greece and Serbia show the limits of its plans in Europe

Beijing might have successfully split France and Germany, but the actions of Greece and Serbia show the limits of its plans in Europe