COMPETITION OR COOPERATION: DEBATING A TRANSATLANTIC DE-RISKING STRATEGY ON CHINA - Please join the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and Global China Hub for a conversation with experts from across Europe and the United States to examine different strategies and areas for transatlantic cooperation on economic policy towards China.

Following two turbulent years for Europe and the United States, attention is rapidly shifting towards the geopolitical challenge China poses, and the concept of de-risking has become a central tenet of transatlantic strategy towards China. From the recent EU-US Trade and Technology Council meeting in Sweden to the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima, the transatlantic partnership is debating a strategy based on “de-risking, not decoupling” from China. However, an agreed-upon approach to de-risking, across the Atlantic and even within Europe, has thus far been elusive. While US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have consistently embraced a de-risking strategy, some European leaders worry that von der Leyen is moving too quickly and too expansively in her attempt to reduce the EU’s dependence on China. China remains a – if not the most – vital market for many EU and US companies, such as in emerging technology fields, highlighting the critical importance of forging a joint strategy to improve transatlantic resilience.

Ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels on June 29 and 30, what balance will Europeans strike in assessing risks and opportunities emanating from China? What areas for convergence exist with the United States for jointly addressing strategic vulnerabilities in their economies towards China? What economic instruments or industry sectors will prove the most critical? And critically, can a transatlantic agenda on China be agreed upon, let alone achieved?

The event will serve as the first event of a new series of programming on EU-China relations housed under the Europe Center’s Next Europe project, which seeks to propose innovative policy solutions to emerging challenges facing the transatlantic partnership.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 6/23/23