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How Europe’s big bailout plan could also help trump the ‘China card’
- The €500 billion Franco-German plan is primarily designed to aid post-coronavirus economic recovery but also seeks to achieve ‘health sovereignty’
- Observers say the pandemic has highlighted the EU’s vulnerabilities and need to strengthen its hand when dealing with China
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A half-a-trillion-euro recovery package could help the European Union counter Chinese influence as well as serve its main purpose of helping the economy recover from the devastation caused by Covid-19, analysts say.
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The plan, proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is intended to address the unprecedented crisis caused by the pandemic, which has killed more than 150,000 Europeans and devastated the economies of the EU’s 27 member states.
The plan will raise €500 billion (US$548 billion) in public markets to support hard-hit sectors of the economy, and will also increase Europe’s capacity to produce medical supplies, for which it relies heavily on China.
While not mentioning China by name, the recovery plan calls for the EU to “reduce dependency” on outside suppliers of medical equipment, achieve “strategic health sovereignty” and even step up screening of foreign investment.
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“While the rescue funds proposed by Merkel and Macron were triggered by the corona crisis and aimed at addressing urgent economic needs, they are highly relevant geopolitically,” said Frans-Paul van der Putten, senior research fellow at Dutch think tank Clingendael.
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