E.U. Trade Commissioner Is Getting a Raw Deal

{
  "authors": [
    "Judy Dempsey"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie Europe",
    "Carnegie China"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "China’s Foreign Relations"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Europe",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Asia",
    "Europe"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Policy",
    "EU",
    "Economy"
  ]
}

In The Media

Carnegie Europe

E.U. Trade Commissioner Is Getting a Raw Deal

European Union nations are increasingly making their own bilateral deals with China, damaging the unifying efforts of the E.U. trade commissioner.

By Judy Dempsey

Published on Sep 3, 2012

Source: New York Times

Being the European Union trade commissioner must sometimes be a thankless job, as Karel De Gucht is finding out. He has been fighting long and hard to establish a level playing field with China.

The issues are well known. For European companies, they include the protection of intellectual property rights, ending the dumping of Chinese goods on European markets and coming clean about the generous state subsidies given to Chinese firms when they bid for contracts or snap up European companies.

Mr. De Gucht is no pushover when it comes to dealing with China. But because of the euro crisis, E.U. countries are increasingly going it alone with China and ignoring the E.U. Commission. Big and small member states are vying with each other to win business in China and to attract Chinese investments in their own countries.

It’s as if all the downsides of doing business with China have been forgotten.

Here in Germany, the small and midsize companies known as the Mittelstand, which in the past complained about the difficulties of doing business in China, now play down problems like red tape and corruption. Given the economic climate, they prefer to lie low rather than speak out.

Some of the big German companies, including the carmakers, do speak out from time to time. They are weighty enough, and they have the ear of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was in China last week, a visit I discuss in this week’s Letter from Europe.

Ms. Merkel used to be much more confrontational with China, calling often for more respect of human rights and press freedoms. She wants a strong economy and jobs to prevail in Germany over the next 12 months before the next federal elections. China can oblige.

Such attitudes do not help Mr. De Gucht, as national interests are prevailing in ways that prevent Europe from having a strong and united position in how to deal with China. Beijing can only be smiling.

This article originally appeared in the New York Times.

About the Author

Judy Dempsey

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe

Judy Dempsey is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe

Recent Work

Commentary
Europe Needs to Hear What America is Saying
- Judy Dempsey
Commentary
Babiš’s Victory in Czechia Is Not a Turning Point for European Populists
- Judy Dempsey

Foreign Policy EU Economy Asia Europe

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie India

Article
India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways
A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.
Rajiv Bhatia
Commentary
Emerging From the “Zombie State” of Trade Agreements: The India-EU FTA
The India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is shaping up to be one of the most consequential trade negotiations, both economically and strategically. But, what’s in the agreement, what’s missing, and what will determine its success in the years ahead
Vrinda Sahai, Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki
Article
India’s Press Note 3 Gamble: Opening the FDI Door to China
On March 10, 2026, India’s Union Cabinet approved amendments to Press Note 3, a regulation that mandated government approval on all foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries sharing a land border with India. This amendment raises questions primarily about whether its stated benefits will materialize and if the risks have been adequately weighed. This piece will address the same.
Konark Bhandari
Research
India and a Changing Global Order: Foreign Policy in the Trump 2.0 Era
Trump 2.0 has unsettled India’s external environment—but has not overturned its foreign policy strategy, which continues to rely on diversification, hedging, and calibrated partnerships across a fractured order.
+6
Milan Vaishnav, ed., Sameer Lalwani, Tanvi Madan, …
Commentary
The Impact of U.S. Sanctions and Tariffs on India’s Russian Oil Imports
This piece examines India’s response to U.S. sanctions and tariffs, specifically assessing the immediate market consequences, such as alterations in import costs, and the broader strategic implications for India’s energy security and foreign policy orientation.
Vrinda Sahai

More Work from Carnegie India

Article

India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways

A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.

Rajiv Bhatia

Commentary

Emerging From the “Zombie State” of Trade Agreements: The India-EU FTA

The India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is shaping up to be one of the most consequential trade negotiations, both economically and strategically. But, what’s in the agreement, what’s missing, and what will determine its success in the years ahead

Vrinda Sahai, Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki

Article

India’s Press Note 3 Gamble: Opening the FDI Door to China

On March 10, 2026, India’s Union Cabinet approved amendments to Press Note 3, a regulation that mandated government approval on all foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries sharing a land border with India. This amendment raises questions primarily about whether its stated benefits will materialize and if the risks have been adequately weighed. This piece will address the same.

Konark Bhandari

Research

India and a Changing Global Order: Foreign Policy in the Trump 2.0 Era

Trump 2.0 has unsettled India’s external environment—but has not overturned its foreign policy strategy, which continues to rely on diversification, hedging, and calibrated partnerships across a fractured order.

- +6
Milan Vaishnav, ed., Sameer Lalwani, Tanvi Madan, …

Commentary

The Impact of U.S. Sanctions and Tariffs on India’s Russian Oil Imports

This piece examines India’s response to U.S. sanctions and tariffs, specifically assessing the immediate market consequences, such as alterations in import costs, and the broader strategic implications for India’s energy security and foreign policy orientation.

Vrinda Sahai