World Politics Review’s Maria Savel had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Javier Solana regarding the European Union’s relations with China, ASEAN and Asia as a whole. Dr. Solana is president of the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and previously served as the European Union high representative for the common foreign and security policy, NATO secretary-general and Spanish foreign minister. The following is a condensed version of their conversation.
World Politics Review: Germany-China ties indicate a lot of the fault lines in the European Union and its approach to China in terms of balancing national and European interests. Do you think that there is anything the EU can do to try and institutionalize how to arrive at a balance between European and national interests? Or is it always going to be done on an ad hoc basis?
Javier Solana: Well, the European Union does have an integrated relationship with China. China and the European Union signed a Strategic Partnership almost 30 years ago that provides a comprehensive framework for politics, economics and trade.