European Union And China Strategic Partnership Evaluation Since 2010.With A Case Study On The 16+1 Dialogue

This Thesis attempts to answer the question what caused the frustration in the relations between China and the European Union after 2010 and what change occurred in to the partnership after 2010.The research starts by asking what is the current frustration in the Sino-European partnership since 2010 and why did the frustration emerge in recent years.To answer this question,the study thoroughly reviews the existing literature and demonstrates that the Sino-European partnership until 2010 has been grounded on institutional arrangement based on the normative concepts of the European Union towards China in its relation with the latter.However,since 2010 a change has occurred which include different factors such as the crisis of the liberal nation-state in the EU and the effects of the Great Recession on the European Union.The Second research question in the study was why did the fustration in the partnership emerged.To answer this question the study revisited the recent literature on the relationship between the European Union and China and identified that beside economic asymmetry,the crisis of the liberal nation-states in the EU had significantly skewed the partnership.The third and last question deals with why the EU is negatively opposed to Chinese initiatives in the EU.It was partially answered using the Case study of the“16+1”political format between China and Central Eastern European countries.This part of the Thesis presents an account of why the EU is at first glance skeptical to allow China into the Central Eastern Europe with its initiative.Providing a more historically grounded account of the rhetoric in the EU,the chapter argued that the response triggered by China's entry into EU's domain of regulation is not of regional rivalry,neither competition,but rather a more ideological one where the EU is challenged as an actor to provide economic and political opportunities for integration in the region.Moreover,Central Eastern Europe's experience with Communism before 1989 has left an open account of the previous "East"vs."West" competition,which I argued the entry of China in the region has triggered.