Energy Security in EU-China Relations: Framing Further Efforts of Collaboration

Abstract

Energy was not a significant concern for China or Western European countries when they formally decided to re-establish their contacts after 1971, the year of tectonic change in China’s pursuit of economic and political relations with the rest of the world. However, it did not take long for energy to feature as a substantive issue area in Sino-European diplomatic interactions. The trade and economic cooperation agreement signed in 1985 between China and the European Economic Community (EEC) covered industry, agriculture, science, energy, transportation, environmental protection, and development aid. Still, it was not until 1988 that China and the EEC exchanged permanent diplomatic missions, a necessary instrument for implementing cooperation agreements, and re-normalization of a comprehensive relationship did not come until 1995, when the recently established EU announced its first strategy paper on relations with China. Between 1998 and 2014, China and the EU had the possibility of discussing issues of mutual interest at no less than 17 summits, with the 21 November 2013 meeting adopting the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation. In addition, China and the EU entered into 50 sectoral dialogues. Some of these, organized under the second pillar of economic and sectoral dialogue, deal directly and indirectly with energy and climate issues, including nuclear energy, energy in general, energy security, electricity, climate change, and environmental policy.¹