Unchain Europe–China Relations

h yes, our stately European Commission, that venerable body to which we have, over the years, entrusted ever more strategic tasks, under the assumption that doing so would make Europe stronger. And behold, the Commission has now found its master concept: derisking.

The term emerged as a softened version of the American idea of decoupling from the first Trump era: the United States’ attempt to sever its technological and economic ties with China. To European ears, that sounded a bit too drastic; yet, naturally, Europeans wished to imitate America all the same. 

Thus came derisking: not a full rupture with China, but a selective freezing of strategically sensitive connections under the guise of risk reduction.

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Who could possibly object to reducing risk?

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