The notion connectivity in the EU’s economic diplomacy strategy towards the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

The people’s republic of China's (PRC) rise in economic terms has had a major impact on the multi-polarization of world politics, especially through the resulting increase in its multilateral power. In this context the PRC is an all the more important trading partner as well as a political partner for the European Union (EU). For this reason, it is certainly appropriate to examine the PRC's economic expansion plans and to put them in relation to how the EU’s foreign policy has been influenced. The aim of this master thesis is hence to answer the following question: To what extent has the EU-deployed economic diplomacy strategy towards China changed through connectivity in the last fifteen years? To answer this question, I will analyze how the EU has reacted to the PRC’s connectivity strategy called the ‘Belt-and-Road Initiative’ and if the EU’s connectivity ambitions manifested in form of the ‘EU-Asia Connectivity Strategy’ oppose the Chinese initiative intentionally and thus forfeit the chance of synergy-based cooperation. Based on the concept of economic diplomacy I will interpret the EU’s behavior and evaluate whether economic diplomacy has gained more traction in the EU through connectivity. The current EU foreign policy towards the PRC leans towards system rivalry and is less optimistic in terms of the change through trade theory as well as political and economic convergence. In line with the theory of economic diplomacy, the connectivity strategies on both sides in relation to the politico-economic relations between the EU and the PRC will be examined – leading to the final step of formulating a policy recommendation.