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Wie lässt sich ein Handelskrieg mit China vermeiden? Europaabgeordnete debattieren in "The Ring"
Droht ein Handelskrieg mit China? In dieser Ausgabe unserer wöchentlichen Diskussionssendung The Ring erörtern Sakis Arnaoutoglou (Sozialdremokraten) und Nicolás de la Parte (EVP), was eines der folgenreichsten Themen auf der politischen Agenda der EU sein könnte.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2026/05/07/wie-lasst-sich-ein-handelskrieg-mit-china-vermeiden-europaabgeordnete-debattieren-in-the-r
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Droht ein Handelskrieg mit China? In dieser Ausgabe unserer wöchentlichen Diskussionssendung The Ring erörtern Sakis Arnaoutoglou (Sozialdremokraten) und Nicolás de la Parte (EVP), was eines der folgenreichsten Themen auf der politischen Agenda der EU sein könnte.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2026/05/07/wie-lasst-sich-ein-handelskrieg-mit-china-vermeiden-europaabgeordnete-debattieren-in-the-r
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NewsTranskript
00:08Hello and welcome to The Ring, Euronews' weekly debate show broadcasting from the European
00:14Parliament here in Brussels. I'm Stefan Grobe. On The Ring, members of the European Parliament
00:19go face-to-face on some of the biggest issues facing Europe. Today we want to talk about
00:26EU trade relations with China, which risk becoming so bad that the European economy may be seriously
00:34hit. Luis Alberto has more. Trade tensions between China and the European Union are escalating
00:42after Beijing called on EU member states to revise the bloc's proposed Made in Europe legislation.
00:49The draft proposal of the European Commission seeks to tighten the rules for foreign companies
00:54that want to participate in EU public procurement contracts or benefit from investment opportunities.
01:00The initiative, which aims to bolsters Europe's industrial capacity, was met with criticism
01:05by China's Commerce Ministry, who affirmed that if the EU, quote, insists on this punishment
01:10and treats China's enterprises in a discriminatory manner, Beijing would respond with countermeasures.
01:16In other words, retaliation. While Europe is trying to navigate a world of aggressive tariffs
01:22by Trump's administration, is it heading toward a full-scale trade conflict with China?
01:26Or can it still strike a balance between protection and cooperation?
01:32A lot to unpack here for our contenders. And here they are.
01:39Sakis Arnautoulou, a Greek MEP from the Socialists and Democrats Group.
01:43He's a member of the Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China in the European Parliament.
01:48Advocating a pragmatic approach to global tensions, he cautions against escalation and said,
01:53Europe must remain open to cooperation with China, but it cannot remain naïve.
01:58We need a relationship based on fairness, reciprocity and transparency.
02:02The aim is not confrontation.
02:05Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, a Spanish MEP from the Central Right European People's Party.
02:10A career diplomat, he served as ambassador of Spain to NATO.
02:13As an MEP, he's a member of the Committee on Security and Defense.
02:17A strong transatlanticist with a geopolitical outlook,
02:20he warns about the global power shift driven by Beijing,
02:23stating,
02:24China's export restrictions are an escalation of the weaponization of trade policies.
02:28We have to confront this in a smart way.
02:31That means we cannot decouple from China, but we have to de-risk.
02:36So let me welcome to the ring, Sakis Anautoglu and Nicolás Pascual de la Parte.
02:41Great to see you and thanks for coming on the show.
02:45Thanks for having us.
02:46So the aim of the ring is to offer our viewers a glimpse at European Parliament debates.
02:52So you should feel right at home here on set.
02:56Are you ready?
02:57I am.
02:58Yes, indeed.
02:58Okay, let's start with the thing that made headlines just a few days ago.
03:03When Brussels presented its made-in-Europe proposals to strengthen our industrial base,
03:08China reacted with unusual harshness, threatening retaliation.
03:13Should we now be scared, Sakis?
03:16Of course not.
03:17I mean, what we did was actually the logical thing to do because China started it.
03:22I mean, it started some kind of a weird, let's say unfair competition and unfair trade that
03:28we have to answer back because otherwise we're not going to be able just to defend our industry
03:32and defend what we actually have reached so far.
03:36This prosperity that the European Union has, 27 countries together, this is not something
03:41that you can achieve just like that.
03:43So we have our methods and so we're going to defend our methods.
03:47Nicolás, this is a proposal coming from the European Commission.
03:51Is it dead on arrival after all these debates we had?
03:56I agree with my colleague.
03:57I think that the initiative from the Commission is based on the principle of reciprocity.
04:03That means that we have to relate with China on a real basis and to demand from them the
04:11same treatment as we deliver to them.
04:13So far, China has been taking selectively some norms of the World Trade Organization and
04:19disregarding other rules.
04:21From now on, I think that we have to keep with them a fair, transparent relationship based
04:26on reciprocity and nothing else.
04:28So the Commission has taken a much more assertive stance towards China recently.
04:34Is this the way to go forward?
04:36There is no other way to go forward because, as I said before, and it's a critical situation
04:42geopolitically where we also have a lot of new challenges to face.
04:47And if we don't find a solution or we won't deal with that now, because some people and some
04:54would say that Europe has been naive so far.
04:58So we had to start at it years ago just to find some kind of solutions in a way that
05:04we're
05:05not going to bring us in this difficult situation.
05:07So it's the only way, I think.
05:09That's my opinion.
05:09Tough on China, the right way?
05:11Not tough on China.
05:12Realistic on China.
05:13So far, we have been dealing with them in a way that it is not any more sustainable.
05:19As I said before, China is disregarding some rules for the World Trade Organization.
05:23They subscribe to it, but they select, pick up selectively what benefits them and disregard
05:29those who doesn't.
05:30China has to get used to deal with the European Union and with all the international partners
05:35on a basis of reality and reciprocity.
05:37And what we are trying to do now is to send a clear message to China.
05:41We want to engage with you.
05:42We want not a dependency relation.
05:45We want a relation on the same footing.
05:47But please, be transparent.
05:49Please respect the international law.
05:51And don't use commerce and trade as a coercive weapon against anybody.
05:55The Chinese have said that Made in Europe is just a vehicle to reduce China's influence.
06:01I mean, they're right here, right?
06:03In a way.
06:04I mean, everybody's right from his own position, let's say.
06:07But the way they just manage to do things, a little bit secretive and a little bit, you
06:13know, the way they just proceed the whole time is just a way that we cannot let it happen.
06:20As I said, we're not against China.
06:24We have to be clear.
06:25We want China as a partner.
06:27I'm not saying that we don't need China.
06:29And China needs us.
06:30So we're a huge market.
06:31So China needs to also consider that if it loses us, then it's going to have problems.
06:36Do we want another China?
06:38We don't want another China.
06:41I mean, it's very difficult to say.
06:43China is exactly what it is.
06:45We have to adapt and they have to adapt both sides because reciprocity is the main thing.
06:50Well, adapting is a nice word, Nikolas, because it's ironic.
06:55The Chinese are accusing us of doing things, practices that China does at home or is promoting
07:04at home.
07:05For example, restricting access to key industries, limiting public procurement, pursuing aggressive
07:11industrial policies that support and finance strategic sectors.
07:17So why should we not hit back?
07:20The reality is that the access to the public procurement in China is nearly zero for European
07:26enterprises because there are a lot of obstacles, a lot of restrictions, legal and non-legal.
07:30In addition to this, they use a kind of a state-run economy in which they have a state-run
07:36banks
07:36which give financing to the enterprises at zero cost, zero financial cost, so that they
07:44can dump us out of the market.
07:46And once they have the monopoly of this product, they increase the prices.
07:49They have done many times.
07:51Aluminium, steel, batteries, electric cars, they follow all the same pattern.
07:57They can have a financing at privileged rates, obviously, because all the banks in China
08:03are a state-run.
08:03It is the Communist Party who decide where the money goes to.
08:07And once they dump us out, because they can compete with lower prices, they increase the
08:12prices when they have the monopoly of the market.
08:14It cannot continue like that.
08:15So is that what we call de-risking?
08:17De-risking, of course.
08:18I mean, we cannot depend on...
08:20We want to have a trade engagement with China, obviously in a transparent manner, but
08:26not to depend on them in strategic inputs.
08:30And so far, we still depend on many sectors on them, mainly on rare earths, critical minerals,
08:37and so on and so forth.
08:38We should reduce this dependency in order to have a fair relationship.
08:43Doesn't de-risking mean also protectionism?
08:47I mean, we're dealing with a country here.
08:50I mean, we have to deal with a country where we need to play nice, but the country is not
08:54sharing our set of values.
08:56Isn't that the core problem?
08:57Okay, that's a new era that everybody wants to rule the world in a way, I mean, as far
09:03as the trade is concerned.
09:04But it doesn't mean that we, Europe, has to let it happen the way that some countries want
09:11it.
09:11But to protect your values, to protect your principles is not bad, because if you just
09:17let China do what it wants, then there's a huge possibility in the coming years that
09:23the cheap products are going to be affordable for the citizens of Europe, because we're not
09:28going to be jobs.
09:28They're not going to be industries in order to produce things.
09:32So we have to face it, and we have to see, are we going to let it happen the way
09:37the
09:37Chinese want it, or are we going to enforce our industry so that the citizens, the European
09:42citizens, are going to be able, in the long-run basis, be able to produce and buy products
09:48from wherever they want.
09:50So if we, as Europeans, as a union, act as a sovereign bloc, the way China acts as a sovereign
09:58country, doesn't that make a trade war inevitable?
10:02Not at all.
10:03I think that once we are able to act united vis-à-vis China, we will have a better standard
10:14to deal with them.
10:15I mean, China is always trying to divide us.
10:17China prefers to deal with us on a bilateral basis.
10:20And it's fair.
10:21They try to get benefit dealing bilaterally with all of us.
10:25We have to offer a common, consensual strategy vis-à-vis China, which is not either offensive
10:31or defensive.
10:31It is fair.
10:33We ask for fairness.
10:35And to, I mean, we have to be clear, I mean, China 30, 40 years ago had no technology at
10:39all.
10:40I mean, we, Europeans and the Americans, we have been exporting and transferring to
10:44them a lot of technology because it was a request from them, you could not invest in
10:49China, you could not sell in China unless you transfer technology.
10:52Yeah.
10:52And they have benefited from this transfer in order to compete with us, disregarding sometimes
10:58the WTO rules.
11:00All right.
11:01So let me stop you just here as we're getting warmed up right now.
11:10Now it's time for our viewers to get a real flavor of the European Parliament chamber where
11:15members ask each other questions.
11:17And sometimes it can get heated.
11:20That means it's time for you guys to challenge each other directly, just as you do in the
11:25HEMI cycle behind us.
11:27So let's get started.
11:29Sakis, fire off.
11:30So I just wanted to ask, Michael, because EPP, I mean, says sometimes all the time, I mean,
11:36we have to enforce interest to which I agree.
11:39But I have the feeling that the citizens, the everyday citizens for EPP is not, you know,
11:45is not included the way that should.
11:48So if the market works so well, why the citizens, the European citizens are complaining still?
11:53No, because, I mean, because the market is working well when the participants in the
11:59market wants to play fair.
12:00The Chinese have not played fair so far.
12:03Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
12:05And the only request we demand from them is that they have to respect all the WTO rules
12:11and to deal with us on a fair basis.
12:13That is all.
12:14The market normally reassign or readjust the differences.
12:19But in this time, not because China is not a normal commercial partner.
12:25It is a state capitalism in which the Communist Party take decisions on its own that normally
12:32in our countries is taken by the market.
12:33This is the difference.
12:35Follow up, Sakis.
12:36And then what about the wages are stagnated.
12:39And so there is no prospect that the wages are going to be a reason the way that you, sometimes,
12:47you say in the European Parliament that you are going to be able to raise wages in a way
12:53according to your plan.
12:54But I don't think that it's possible the way that geopolitically is what's going on at the moment.
12:59Well, I think that wages are dependent on the international markets.
13:04I mean, capitals, jobs and wages travel across the world.
13:09And it's very difficult to fix a wage in Europe which is not competitive vis-à-vis China, vis-à
13:14-vis the US.
13:15Nowadays, we have not to compete among ourselves in Europe, as used to be the case.
13:19Now we have to compete internationally very toughly with the US, with China and with other competitors.
13:24The wages will be the result of many factors, as you know.
13:28It's not a question for us Europeans to decide which is the perfect level of wage.
13:33The wage is the result of income, of technology, of the workforce training, of input, of the prices of the
13:41raw materials, of many things.
13:43But it's clear that in an international trade scenario, the competition will be much tougher than before.
13:50And the wages will reflect this reality.
13:52Okay, Nicholas, carry on and ask Sakis a question.
13:56Well, I have a couple of them.
13:59I mean, to what extent can the guliness to engage in dialogue, as you say, with China be interpreted as
14:07a lack of firmness in the face of unfair trade practices?
14:10You know, we always have to try. I mean, the dialogue must always be here, because otherwise misunderstandings can crop
14:17up in a way that cannot be reversible.
14:20So I think we have to stick on our values. I have to, I mean, I've been in contact with
14:26Chinese people and stuff.
14:27And they're also willing to understand. But we have to make clear that it's not that we have, we're targeting
14:34China.
14:36This is absolute what we should do. We just want to protect our values in within a dialogue that can
14:45bring us closer and closer for the benefits of our nations.
14:48Follow up? Yes. In the European Union, if the European Union does not respond with the strong measures toward China,
14:57what alternatives do you propose to prevent the loss of competitiveness in key sectors such as electric vehicles, for instance?
15:05Yes, we've already tried it with Mercosur, for example, just to find some other markets.
15:10But we have to be very careful because EPP is a little bit too open to markets.
15:15But we have to also take into consideration that we have citizens, we have producers that might be affected by
15:23those openings to other markets.
15:25Yes, to opening to other markets, it's necessity, it's necessary, but not with every cost.
15:32All right. Well, we've heard the views from our guests. Now it's time to bring in a new voice.
15:42For our quote of the week, I would like to bring in Maro Sefkovic, the EU Commissioner for Trade and
15:48Economic Security.
15:49A few days ago, he told Euronews how he believes we should deal with China. Take a listen.
15:55We are not interested in any trade wars. And I made it clear from the day one, and I engaged
16:01from the day one with our Chinese counterparts.
16:04I was in Beijing. We had a meeting with Vice Prime Minister Helifeng, and I'm in regular contact with my
16:09counterpart.
16:09But we cannot have a trade deficit of 1 billion euros a day. We cannot have a deficit of 360
16:16billion a year.
16:18It's simply unsustainable. I think what we need is indeed strategic patience, lots of courage to deal with the difficult
16:25issues,
16:25because the war is easy to declare, but it's very difficult to stop. And therefore, I think what we need
16:32is to have regular structured talk, also with China.
16:37I would say crystal clear about that we would fight a tooth and nail for every European job, for every
16:43European company, for every European sector,
16:45if we see that they are treated unfairly. That's our job.
16:48So, we need strategic patience and a lot of courage. Do you agree with him?
16:53Yes, I do. The point with China is that they have an overproduction, a yearly overproduction,
16:58and the commissioner has pointed out of around 600,000 million euros a year. Why? Because there is no domestic
17:05demand.
17:06Because they don't have a welfare state. Then the Chinese, they save much more than us, because they don't have
17:12any future sustained by any kind of subsidies coming from the state.
17:16Then they don't spend as much as they could. They save a lot. And that's why the national demand doesn't
17:22absorb the overcapacity of the China economy.
17:25And this overcapacity is sent abroad, and this imbalance we have to correct.
17:29Sakis, where do you come down on this, hearing the commissioner?
17:33I think our viewers have to understand that patience, of course, is necessary. But on the other hand, we also,
17:40as we said, strategically, we have to go on.
17:42Europe has very many benefits. But for me, it's the only mistake that Europe still is doing is to take
17:51decisions very slowly.
17:52And we need to just accelerate all this stuff, because otherwise, I mean, United States and China that matter.
17:59I mean, the decision making is so fast that we cannot follow up. So I think we need to accelerate
18:06everything in order just to cope up with all the situation globally.
18:09The commissioner also said that a trade deficit of 360 billion euros is unsustainable economically and politically.
18:18How can we prevent it from ballooning further? Is that even possible, Nicolas?
18:22Of course it is. I mean, they have to open their market, not only the private market, but the public
18:28procurement market that so far, as I said before, is nearly closed because of so many restrictions.
18:33Second, they have to play with the game with the same rules. They cannot have this kind of subsidized help
18:42and assistance to the enterprises to compete abroad.
18:46These subsidies have to disappear and they have to compete on the same level of fairness.
18:50And third, they have to not to overproduce things that they cannot consume at home and they have to sell
18:58abroad. I mean, it's a kind of many factors that we have to balance.
19:01And of course, we have to be more aggressive and more competitive in the Chinese market.
19:06Of course, it is possible if you invest in your industry and you just don't want to have your green
19:11transition only by importing products from abroad, especially from China, then you in the end is going to end up
19:19outsourcing jobs and having no jobs at all.
19:23But taking all the products, especially from China, this is going to be a huge imbalance. So we need to
19:29be very careful and we can change the whole rhythm towards you.
19:34Because we have to invest in the right industry. Exactly. OK, lots of stuff to talk about here.
19:39Let's take a break on The Ring right now. We'll be back with more after this. Don't go away.
19:53Welcome back to The Ring, Euronews' weekly debate show from the European Parliament.
19:57I'm Stefan Grobe and I'm joined by Sakis Anautoglou, a socialist from Greece and Nicolas Delaparte from the European People's
20:05Party from Spain.
20:07At this point, let's remind ourselves how big an economic power China is and how important our trade with that
20:14country is.
20:14So China recorded a 1.2 trillion global trade surplus in 2025. The EU's trade deficit with China reached roughly
20:24360 billion last year.
20:27China accounts for 560 billion euros in EU goods imports last year, making it the EU's largest import partner.
20:37And EU imports from China increased by 6.5% year on year in 2025.
20:44So calls for rebalancing have for the most part gone unheard, right? Is that a debt concept, Sakis?
20:53You know, I mean, seeing all this, it's terrifying when you hear all these numbers, because actually, if when I
21:01read it and whether the viewers see it, I mean, sometimes it's a huge imbalance in how we're supposed to
21:06cope up with it.
21:07But it is possible and it is some kind of a way of bringing it back, taking the measures that
21:16we set. Otherwise, it's going to be huger the differences in the next couple of years.
21:24Niklas, to what extent is EU policy towards China being shaped by pressure from the United States? Because this is
21:33a player we cannot forget here.
21:35I think that we have to have our own autonomous foreign policy and trade policy. I would like to have
21:41a kind of common approach with the United States to go hand in hand vis-à-vis China.
21:45But we have to defend our own interests and our own identity features, hopefully with the United States. But we
21:53have, as I said, to keep our own approach.
21:56That means a couple of things. We have said before that what is the homework that the Chinese have to
22:01carry out. But we, on our side, we have also our homework to do.
22:05We have to be more competitive in many disruptive technologies in which there is a catching up need for the
22:10European Union, whether artificial intelligence, counting computing, robotics, the data on the cloud, biotechnology.
22:18It's not only to request the Chinese to trade fairly. It is also for us to be more competitive.
22:25We need to do our homework. Is that also signing the US trade deal?
22:31We need to be very careful when voices like today's voice from the other part of the Atlantic, I mean,
22:40send different messages.
22:41OK. You know, Mr. Trump did one very good thing.
22:46It brought together the European countries more quickly than it happened before.
22:52So I think it's a very nice lesson. And it's a huge opportunity just to take advantage of all this.
22:58Do you agree that Trump, I might say Putin as well, are kind of helping us to get unified?
23:07Yes, somehow both of them are external federators. And we perhaps should set up a monument to both of them
23:13because they are reinforcing the unity and the coherence of the European Union.
23:17That's where you talk about Trump. Be careful what you wish for.
23:19OK. No, that's the point. I think that, I mean, the European Union normally reacts before crisis in a way
23:26that it doesn't normally do.
23:28The point now is that, as my colleague has said, time is of the essence.
23:32We'll have too much time to react because things are happening at a pace, at a breakneck pace, and we
23:38have to react quickly.
23:40We have to set up a clear strategy towards China, which is not aggressive, which is not defensive.
23:47It is fair. And we have to demand from them something that we have to do here at home as
23:52well.
23:52Time is of the essence. And now it's time to move on to our fifth and final round.
24:02And now I want to do something different. I'm going to ask you a set of questions and you can
24:07only answer whether yes or no.
24:10All right. So I guess I start with you. Is access to the Chinese market still essential for Europe's economic
24:16growth?
24:16Yes. Yes, indeed. OK. Were the EU's tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles worth the risk of retaliation?
24:28Yes. Yes, indeed. But I think the Chinese need to understand that we're not focusing on targeting China.
24:36We just try to protect our values. OK. Long yes. Would you buy a Chinese car if it's considerably cheaper
24:44than a European one?
24:46I would. I mean, I'm not saying no. But the thing is that because, you know, if you don't have
24:52the money, you have to do something.
24:54OK. But on the other hand, yes, I would. Yes, you would. Nicolas.
24:58It depends on the quality, not only the price. The quality for me is very important. And I think that
25:03European cars are better.
25:04All right. Are WTO mechanisms still effective? Yes and no, in a way.
25:10But we have to let's to reform some because there's some more. Some of them are old and, you know,
25:16things are changing very rapidly.
25:17Right now mechanisms are effective. Yes or no? Not entirely. OK.
25:22Is the EU's new industrial policy compatible with open trade principles? Of course. That is one of our main objectives.
25:30Yes. Good. Indeed. Are bi-European measures a necessary correction?
25:41Yes. In a way. It definitely may be. But yes. OK. Now, squeezed between Trump's America and China, should Europe
25:50become more protectionist?
25:52Not at all. No, we don't need to be protectionist, to bring protectionism. Stay open, but very careful. OK.
26:02Can Europe realistically compete with China's state backed industrial scale without similar subsidies?
26:11No. We cannot compete, but we have to force them to abide by the international rules, not for us to
26:19disregard the international rules.
26:20OK. Finally, was there anything over the last half hour that you agree with your opponent?
26:27Well, actually, we have agreed on many things most of the time because we have a very sensitive approach.
26:33We expect from China fairness, reciprocity and good governance in international trade. And we are ready to offer them the
26:42same. That's why we share very much our approach.
26:45I don't think that there is space for disagreement nowadays when we have something in common just to protect and
26:52save our industry and our European citizens.
26:55So for me, I've agreed also in many, many things with my colleague.
26:58OK. So we have a common ground here between the People's Party and the Socialists. Fantastic.
27:04But it's good for Europe.
27:05That's good for Europe. Right. And that final answer brings us to the end of this edition of The Ring.
27:11Thanks again to Sakis, Anna Autoglou and Nicolas de la Parte for a lively conversation here from the European Parliament.
27:18Thanks to our audience at home.
27:20If you like, you can continue the conversation by sending us your comments to the ring at Euronews.com.
27:27That's it for today. I'm Stefan Grobe. Take care and see you soon on Euronews.
27:32Thank you.
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