1. Maria Alfonso
EPSS Fall 2015
To: ​European Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström
The European Union and China
The European Union as a global actor is an ever evolving concept that influences
multiple fields within the domestic security of each member state. While each field has value, no
one area is more important to the normative power of Europe than its economy. The market has a
history as a beacon of success for social economic systems and a symbol of the ideal standard of
living for the rest of the world. Yet the stability of this system has come under fire due to the
recent economic downturn. To address this issue the European Union has been working to
strengthen its relationships with key trading partners. As the European Union’s second largest
trading partner China is crucial to the health of European markets. However, the ideological 1
differences of the two countries, especially over issues of human rights and intellectual property , 2
stand in the way of a strong trading relationship between the two actors. This problem is
reflected in the lack of trade agreements directly between the European Union and China instead
of between member states and the Chinese. In order to secure the economic future and stability
within the European Union it is crucial that it finds a way to create a stable partnership with the
rising entity of China.
While China is on the rise, the European Union continues in a state of economic
instability. Member states, like Germany and the United Kingdom, fight to keep the euro afloat
while Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal struggle to manage the considerable debt that each of
them are facing. At the same time, the United Kingdom has begun to threaten to leave the 3
European Union. What unfolds from this is a fault in the security of the European Union that 4
must be addressed.
1
​europa.eu, (2015). Client and Supplier Countries for EU28.
2
​Bindi, F. and Angelescu, I. (2008). The Foreign Policy of the European Union ­ Assesing Europe's Role in the
World.
3
Wearden, G. (2014). Europe in turmoil: five years of economic crisis.
4
US News & World Report, (2015). UK foreign secretary warns of 'Brexit' unless EU implements fundamental reforms.

2. The tie between economic instability and domestic security issues lies in the concept of
human security and, one of its defining terms, freedom from want. By meeting the needs of its 5 6
citizens, Europe can create a stable domestic environment that maintains peace. However, the
current unemployment rates (Greece at 25%, Spain 21.6%, Portugal 12.2%, Italy 11.8%, and the
entire EU at 9.3%) , create a situation where freedom from want is unachievable for certain 7
citizens. As this crisis has evolved, the affected citizens evolve with it. Often fear of job loss and
other economic issues lend power to more radical movements that look to ethnic, religious, and
cultural differences as the answer to why there are problems. This concept can be used to explain
the rise in right wing parties across Europe. These parties have come to power at a time of
increasing dissatisfaction with the European Union. This association is seen through the rise in
seats held within the European Parliament by right wing politicians from 7.47% to 11.45% and
the decrease in satisfaction with the European Union from 47% to 31%. The right wing offers a 8
chance for states to leave the European Union at a time of great crisis, giving rise to talk of a
Brexit (Britain), Grexit (Greece), and Frexit (France). With the continuing outcry for dissolution
of the European Union, the normative power of this organization is called into question by the
outside world. Such a public internal dispute leaves room for security threats from other states,
who believe the European Union is not capable of a collective retaliation to attacks, and
independent actors, who are dismayed by the current economic instability.
While a stable trade relationship with China will not solve all of the European Union’s
current security issues, it will act as a step toward rehabilitating the economy. Not having a
strong, formal, trade agreement with one of their largest trading partners is holding the EU back
from an avenue for mutually beneficial investments, including foreign direct investment which
remains limited. It also creates a significant boundary between the EU and one of the current 9
influential powers of the world. To cement its place as a leader of international dialogue, the EU
5
​Futamura, M., Newman, E. and tadjbakhsh, s. (2015). Towards a Human Security Approach to Peacebuilding
6
Tadjbakhsh, S. (2014). Human Security Twenty Years On. ​NOREF​.
7
Ec.europa.eu, (2015). File:Unemployment rates, seasonally adjusted, September 2015.png ­ Statistics Explained
8
Figures from 4/22/2015 Politico article:​Shekhovtsov, A. (2015). How the European far right became mainstream
9
Demonstrated by the third bar graph labeled, “Foreign direct investment”: ​Ec.europa.eu, (2015). China ­
Trade ­ European Commission.

3. must let go of its dreams of former glory and wake up to the reality of a new power dynamic
with China as a major power player.
Options for Building a Stronger Partnership
To establish a more prosperous relationship with China, the European Union has multiple
theoretical approaches at its disposal. Two different theories that can be used are Neoliberalism
and Constructivism. While both center around the importance of economics in international
affairs, each has a different approach to the application of economic theory.
Neoliberalism stands as a viable approach due to its belief in a market free of regulation.
Currently, one of the issues that stands in the way of a trading relationship between Europe and 10
China is the human rights violations in China. The lack of freedom of speech, association, 11
assembly, and religion violate core principles of the European Union. Many European member 12
states pride themselves for their support of democratic and humane values. To step away from
these values would be to violate the work that Europe has done in support of human rights. Yet,
to survive, neoliberalism suggests that a free market is necessary. Institutional connections are
the key to balancing an anarchical world system. By this logic, it can be inferred that trade
interaction between China and the European Union is better if uncontrolled because it allows for
institutional cooperation. So, if Europe were to follow the neoliberal theory, they would need to
abandon all of the current state controls on investment and trade in order to build a free market
where relations can thrive.
However, there are strong issues standing in the way of utilizing neoliberalism in the
EU­China relationship. First, the European Union has a social economy that is built with
numerous state introduced policies in order to dictate the direction of the market to areas that are
not profitable but of human interest or importance. These policies are held as basic human rights;
examples include the right to proper medical care, the right to education, and equality for
disabled individuals. Removing these policies would be next to impossible since citizens of
10
​Harvey D. (2005) A Brief History of Neoliberalism
11
​Ec.europa.eu, (2015). China ­ Trade ­ European Commission.
12
Human Rights Watch Report on China;
https://www.hrw.org/world­report/2015/country­chapters/china­and­tibet

4. Europe view them as a right under European Union membership. Second, the Chinese economy
is a state run economy, that has even more controlling policies than the social economy of the
European Union. The Chinese government control major industries, state investment, and
development of all aspects of the Chinese economy. Trying to change this to a neoliberal system
by getting rid of state control would be incredibly difficult as well, because the Chinese
government has strict control over the political processes of their country. Both the government
and the military have an interest in maintaining the current political system which is very
advantageous for them. These two points demonstrate why the application of neoliberal policies
to the EU­China relationship are not feasible.
Constructivism has an extremely different approach that can be applied to EU­China
relations. While the theory remains varied, it centers around the idea of human security, where
the individual is central to security. Edward Newman highlighted this conceptual idea by stating,
“human security’ seeks to place the individual­or people collectively­as the referent of security,
rather than, although not necessarily in opposition to institutions such as territory and state
sovereignty.” To apply this idea to EU­China relations, it is important to note the current state 13
of Europe in regard to the quality of life, including freedom of want, of European citizens. In
addition to this implication, the theory fits well into the EU framework due to the current setup
of the economic system. The EU’s social economic system takes account for human rights and
works to provide and promote rights to all of its citizens. Creating a trade relationship with
China, that would create jobs and generate economic prosperity in the European Union can be
seen as a continuation of their promotion of human rights.
However an issue lies within the vastness of the philosophical tie between human rights
and the concept of freedom from want in human security . While, certain parts of this statement 14
are easily aligned with freedom of want, such as a right to food, a right to work is not inarguably
a basic human right. Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh and Anuradha Chenoy cite the 1993 Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action at the World Conference on Human Rights as reason to
consider economic rights on equal ground with other categorizations of human rights, but this
declaration was only an attempt and not a successful implementation of the abolishment of
13
​Newman E. (2001) ​Human Security and Constructivism
14
​Tadjbakhsh, S. (2014). Human Security Twenty Years On

5. hierarchy within human rights. While still not a confirmed right, one could argue that the right 15
to work is a human right included in human security due to the negative psychological
implications of unemployment and the ability for unemployment to devolve into homelessness
and starvation.
Now that the human rights addressed by human security have been established, the
theoretical framework can be applied to the EU­China relationship. This can be done by singling
out the rights violation, unemployment, and viewing beneficial trade relations, which provide
jobs, as a solution to solving the violation. If this violation is taken care of then, using
constructivism , one can see that there is no longer a security threat posed by the lack of human 16
rights under the theory of human security.
Policy Proposal
The European Union has a duty to improve its relations with China through trade because
of the impact that trade will have on domestic security within Europe. Currently, the European
Union has no formal trade agreements in place with China. Yet, China remains Europe’s second
largest trading partner due to agreements between China and 26 member states. Recently, talk 17
between China and the EU has brought about the possible formation of a bilateral investment
treaty. Commentors on the agreement state that, “The EU has now initiated a high standard new
generation BIT with China because it far exceeds the traditional bilateral investment protection
category. It covers market access, government procurement, competition policy, the role of the
state owned enterprises, as well as environment, labour and social issues.” The structure is 18
similar to a free trade agreement except for the customs and trade defence areas. While this may
seem like a step in the right direction, it is not enough.
The hesitation by the European Union to classify the agreement as a free trade agreement
instead of a bilateral investment treaty brings light to the tension within the EU­Chinese
relationship. A free trade agreement, or FTA, is defined by the Council on Foreign Relations
15
Human Security: Concepts and Implications by Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh and Anuradha Chenoy; published
in 2007
16
Relationship between constructivism and human security based on: ​Tsai, Y. (2015). THE EMERGENCE OF
HUMAN SECURITY: A CONSTRUCTIVIST VIEW
17
Chen, X. (2014). The EU's dilemma with China: free trade or bilateral investment?
18
Chen, X. (2014). The EU's dilemma with China: free trade or bilateral investment?

6. as,”arrangements in which countries give each other preferential treatment in trade, such as
eliminating tariffs and other barriers on goods.” It is obvious that China is still not considered a 19
full partner of the EU because Europe refuses to create a FTA with them but is currently
finalizing FTAs with the US and Japan. If the European Union cannot treat China as a full 20
partner, it cannot expect to receive the full fiscal benefits of a relationship with them. Without
the full fiscal benefits the European Union will have trouble stabilizing their economy since they
cannot even manage to have a functional relationship with China as a unified force.
In addition to the reason of China­EU relationship perception for a free trade agreement,
the division between Germany and the UK on China is also a significant factor. The UK has
taken a very active stance in relations with China by publicly calling for a free trade agreement
between the EU and China. Germany is showing signs of resistance to this, with Angela Merkel
showing tempered enthusiasm about the deal by stating that the bilateral investment treaty is a
step towards a free trade agreement. This disagreement highlights the conflict occurring within 21
the European Union, adding to the overall perception of a lack of coherence within the union that
leads to a lack of power. It is easy for China to push the European Union into agreements that 22
benefit them greatly by playing different powers against each other during negotiations. To
regain the upper hand in negotiations, the EU must present a united front to China in the form of
an agreed upon trade method.
The China­EU relationship perception and the need for a united European Union as
reasoning for a free trade agreement is tied to how an FTA will add to the domestic security of
the EU. Due to the economic difficulties that the European Union is facing, a free trade
agreement is incredibly important. The agreement is projected to bring jobs and a significant
amount of money to the EU. In addition, just the perception of a stable financial relationship
between the EU and China will lead to positive investment in the stock markets. Therefore, one
can conclude that the relationship could help the EU improve towards economic stability. If the
deal brings more economic stability, than the human right to work will not be in violation, as it is
currently due to the high unemployment in countries like Spain and Greece. When all human
19
​McMahon, R. (2015). The Rise in Bilateral Free Trade Agreements.
20
​Von Der Burchard, H. and Dixon, K. (2015). Malmström tries a new tack on TTIP
21
​Barfield, T. (2015). Canny China profits from UK­Germany rivalry ­ The Local
22
​Shambaugh, D., Sandschneider, E. and Zhou, H. (2007). China­Europe relations. London: Routledge

7. rights are accounted for within the EU, then the risk correlated to human security is low. This
would mean that the general domestic security threats would decrease for the European Union.
Overall, the European Union still has a long way to go in order to revitalize its economy.
It will continue to face domestic security issues that deal with problems of human security.
However, there is a way to slightly reduce the security risks right now. That way is through the
issuance of a free trade agreement with China that would cement economic relations with the
second largest trading partner of the European Union. This is of the utmost importance, for
without a domestically secure European Union, the world would be without a powerful liberal
actor.

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