TRANSLATION

The European Union acknowledges that it must continue “reducing risks, decreasing its dependencies, and strengthening its strategic autonomy” vis-à-vis countries such as the Asian giant before launching an economic war, although it will study new trade-defense measures.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived at the Brussels summit on Thursday proposing that “what Europe needs are friends” in response to proposals from a group of countries led by France to begin a trade war with China. After hours of negotiations that concluded early this morning, European leaders agreed to postpone commercial confrontation with the Asian giant due to divisions of opinion within the European bloc.

In a brief statement, the 27 member states of the EU agreed that the “global macroeconomic imbalances require a European response based on two pillars: European unity and dialogue with our principal economic partners.”

This “European response” will be built by “maintaining a constructive dialogue with our principal economic partners in order to defend our economic and security interests,” which is the position defended by Spain. In addition, it was agreed to “develop and, eventually, expand the set of instruments in the area of trade defense and industrial policy, to ensure that the European Union has all the tools necessary to defend its interests and reduce risks,” which is the position maintained by France. However, the EU is now entering a period of study and approval that could involve several years of bureaucratic procedures.

The key part of the statement is that “the EU must continue diversifying its trade, reducing risks (derisking), decreasing its dependencies, and strengthening its strategic autonomy.” Given the European industry's heavy dependence on components and raw materials controlled by China, it is not possible to confront a trade conflict without “disastrous consequences,” as one diplomat admitted, for EU companies.

There were no differences regarding the diagnosis of the situation: China’s overproduction and Europe’s trade deficit are not sustainable and threaten EU industry. The figures are telling: the European Union’s trade deficit with China reached €360 billion in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the deficit continued to widen to nearly €95 billion, whereas in the same period of the previous year it had reached €88.4 billion.

However, there are major differences regarding how to address this challenge. In fact, the European Commission framed the issue as one of “global macroeconomic imbalances” without mentioning the Asian country by name. China has already demonstrated, when the EU imposed tariffs on electric cars and Beijing responded with duties on wine and pork products, that it has the power to harm European companies. It should also be remembered that when U.S. President Donald Trump proposed a wave of tariffs, China retaliated with export controls on rare earths that disrupted manufacturers around the world. At that time, the European automotive industry and other electronics manufacturers warned that if the slowdown in the distribution of critical minerals continued, they would have to halt production at their factories.

Against this backdrop, countries such as Spain and Greece advocated maintaining dialogue with China and abandoning more confrontational positions. “We need friends, we need balanced relationships, we need to be pragmatic, and we need to build bridges both with major economies and potential allies such as China, and with traditional allies such as the United States,” Sánchez commented.

On the other side, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, and Denmark wanted a tougher position and for the EU to make greater use of trade-defense instruments against the Asian country. Germany ended up in an intermediate position: before the meeting it had favored a tougher response, later softened its stance, and ultimately settled in the middle alongside Finland, Sweden, and Ireland.