China

In 2013, the Chinese president introduced the New Silk Road project, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative. It was to connect China with countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and maritime regions with the purpose to coordinate policies and link infrastructure. However, the initiative, and especially China's role in it, raises many questions and doubts. What is its future? This is what our intern Šárka Váchalová discusses in her blog.

We would like to invite you to the debate EU-Pacific Talks: Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Bold vision for bold players. The debate will take place online on Friday, December 16 at 11:00.

The war in Ukraine and the subsequent economic crisis caused by Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuels showed Europeans the danger of keeping too tight economic ties to autocratic regimes. However, while Europe is shedding its dependence on Russia, another economic reliance is gaining strenght, namely that of Germany on China. In her blog, our intern Kristina Kropáčková explores the broader context of this phenomenon and its implications for EU cohesion.

Our researcher Michal Hrubý was a guest on the Energy Without Emissions podcast. He answers questions on issues such as current energy prices and their possible future development, what impact climate change will have on industry, what is the state's strategy or how the state is approaching the situation.

Until a few years ago, Chinese cars were considered to be copies of European or American cars. Today, China is the largest automotive market, including in the electric car segment, and Chinese manufacturers want to establish themselves in Europe. Our research fellow Vít Havelka commented on this situation.

The driving force of the electric car market is no longer Europe or the United States, but China. It is now trying to push its production into Europe, but the European current production infrastructure is not capable to face the challenge. While the debate about electric cars is mainly limited to environmental friendliness and price for consumers, the future of global competition is often neglected. This is what our researchers Vít Havelka and Michal Hrubý point out in a new analysis on electromobility. To safeguard its automotive industry, Europe needs to work on improving its battery production capacities, as well as its supply chains for primary raw materials, the experts say.

EUROPEUM Institute analyst Alexandr Lagazzi spoke in the program Studia ČT24 about the summit between the European Union and China, which dealt with mutual future relations and economic ties. The conflict in Ukraine was the main topic of discussion on the EU side. It was China's hesitant stance and reaction to economic sanctions against Russia that was addressed, as well as China's rejection of NATO.

A Policy Brief on the appropriate response of Central European countries to China's expansion in the EU neighbourhood was produced during a study visit to the Brussels office of the Think Visegrad platform. The author of the paper, Jakub Jakóbowski, focuses on the possibilities of engaging Central Europe in the EU's global connectivity agenda, implemented under the Global Gateway initiative. He highlights links with the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership as an indispensable element of Central European connectivity.

In the last Eastern Monitor, Michal Beneš focused on the dynamic conflict between the great powers in the Taiwan Strait. He focused on what might await us in the future. The text doesn't aim to find a solution to this complex conflict but instead presents several possible future scenarios to its readers.

In her policy paper, Katharine Klačanský, Research Fellow at EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, discusses the role of climate in geopolitics and provides an overview of the Chinese and American green investment plan and its implications for the future of fossil fuels.

We invite you to an online debate organised by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy as a part of Transatlantic Policy Forum (TAPF) and with support of International Visegrad Fund. The debate will take place online on June 7 from 17:30 on our Facebook.

We kindly invite you to attend the conference concerning the european security after the crises. The debate is organized by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Institute for Politics and Society, Embassy of Portugal in The Czech Republic and CEVRO Institute.