EU-China relations in 2026, with Grzegorz Stec

About this episode

Grzegorz Stec discusses the complexities of EU-China relations in 2026 amidst geopolitical tensions.

Europe has found itself between a rock and a hard place in the last couple of months – between China leveraging export controls on rare earth elements and the US stating its desire to incorporate Greenland. Where does this leave the EU’s China policy? Do we continue to de-risk or do we reconnect with China to hedge in this great power confrontation? Grzegorz Stec, Senior Analyst and Head of the MERICS Brussels Office, joins Johannes Heller-John to talk about EU-China relations in 2026. ...

People in this episode

Host: Johannes Heller-John

Guest: Grzegorz Stec

Topics covered

• EU-China relations
• geopolitics
• export controls
• rare earth elements
• US-China relations
• de-risking
• great power confrontation

Keywords

• EU-China relations
• geopolitics
• export controls
• rare earth elements
• US
• Greenland
• de-risking
• great power confrontation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MERICS

Places: Europe, China, US, Greenland

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