Published: October 7th, 2021,
Last updated: January 3rd, 2024
At an informal dinner of the EU heads of state and government in the Slovenian castle of Brdo, the relationship with China was also on the agenda, albeit a minor topic at the end. Attention is now being drawn to a detail in EU Council President Charles Michel’s communiqué on the meeting. China is considered a „competitor, partner and systemic rival,“ the Belgian remarked. Anyone familiar with the EU’s triad for positioning itself towards the People’s Republic will notice: Until now, the order was „partner, competitor, systemic rival.“ Now, „competitor“ seems to have moved to the front.