Former Slovenian President Danilo Turk has called for renewed efforts to strengthen ties between the European Union (EU) and China, emphasizing the need for a more collaborative approach to address the multifaceted nature of their cooperation, in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Turk pointed to the European Commission's decision in October to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as a turning point in EU-China relations, describing it as an overreaction to the rapid rise of China's electric vehicle industry.
"I think the European Union was caught by surprise. They didn't expect such rapid and high-quality development of production of electric vehicles in China. Of course, the production was in the process for some time now, but the effects are rather dramatic, the quality of vehicles, the availability of vehicles, the affordability of vehicles has been such that European manufacturers were all surprised. And European institutions are taking the kind of automatic response that is (to impose) higher tariffs. That's not a good approach. I am very doubtful about this approach by the European Union. I think the European Union is sometimes taking too much of a protectionist stance. That is not going to be particularly helpful, either to the European Union or any of the European Union's partners," he said.
Describing the EU's move as "an overly protectionist stance," Turk urged deeper dialogue and collaboration between the two sides, citing China's increasing importance in many sectors.
"So, in the European Union, we really need a further discussion on 'all right, how do we want to work with China,' because China has become so important and so effective in many ways that we have to define our cooperative arrangements in an adequate way. We have to figure out how to bring the European Union and China closely into a comprehensive process of improvement," he said.
Turk was a guest speaker at the Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Global Leaders Conference in Shanghai in mid-October, where he granted the exclusive interview to CGTN.
The ESG Global Leaders Conference, the industry's largest annual summit to its fourth edition this year, was attended by over 800 guests, including international organizations' heads and industry leaders, as well as environmental experts consisting of Nobel Prize winners, scholars and professionals.
Former Slovenian President urges EU to adopt more collaborative approach with China
