面對中國因素──歐盟整合的發展與挑戰

The China Factor: Challenges and Opportunities to the European Integration

隨著中國崛起，美中兩強格局逐漸成型的國際局勢下，歐盟應對國際秩序改變對歐盟整合是機會還是挑戰？本文觀察幾個重要國際環境因素，包括中國「一帶一路」的巨型戰略、與新冠肺炎疫情，歐盟採取的對應作為加速以及深化整合觀察。例如自2020年起造成歐盟重大公衛危機的新冠肺炎，歐盟也從原本危機管理機制的緩慢對應，而發展出新的歐盟公衛機制對應，歐盟各國並且同意史上最大的紓困方案。歸納而言，歐盟在對應中國崛起以及因應肺炎危機處理，由歐亞聯結計畫與跨國公衛協調機制，均能見證歐盟深化整合，轉化危機為整合契機。

With the emergence of China, how does the change of international order impact the EU integration? In this article, we examine a few environment factors that may have salient impacts for the EU integration, including China’s grand strategy of the Road and Belt Initiative (BRI), and the COVID-19 pandemics. Although these factors are deemed to weaken the integration from the outset, the EU responses to the pandemics and China’s BRI have subsequently strengthened the EU integration. Firstly, the EU has established the multi-national framework to coordinate the public health issues and the vaccines procurement. Also, the member states collectively agreed upon the largest rescue package to face these challenges. Secondly, the EU initiated the “EU-Asia Connectivity,” and extended the toolbox of policy instruments to monitor the China’s investment in the EU and beyond. These responses exemplify the EU has transformed the external crises into the “critical juncture,” coined by the historical institutionalist, to deepen the integration at home.