Signal Milestones in EU China policy: the 2019 Strategic Outlook, the frozen CAI and the 2023 Economic Security Strategy

Summary

In March 2019 the Commission and the High Representative published a strategic outlook that labelled China at once a cooperation partner, a negotiating partner, an economic competitor and a systemic rival, and set out ten actions including the International Procurement Instrument, a common approach to 5G security and rapid implementation of FDI screening. The EU and China agreed in principle on a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment in December 2020. After EU human-rights sanctions and Chinese counter-sanctions in March 2021, the European Parliament refused to consider ratification while those sanctions stood, and China's lifting of the sanctions in April 2025 did not restart the process. In June 2023 the European Economic Security Strategy named supply-chain resilience, infrastructure security, technology leakage and the weaponisation of dependencies as key risks, organised around promote, protect and partner. A January 2024 follow-up package covered revised FDI screening, EU-level coordination of export controls, support for dual-use R&D, research security and an assessment of outbound investment risks.