But they have yet to work out just what Europe ought to do about it and its implications, in particular, for relations with China. Since the end of the Cold War, the western alliance has been held together by a sense of shared values as much as interests, which often diverged. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was the last time the western partners united around shared values to help with an armed conflict as they came to Kyiv’s assistance. Although the trade relationship is unbalanced and complicated, Beijing and Brussels have the negotiating expertise and capacity to improve it. Both the EU and China share an interest in maintaining a multilateral, rules-based trading system where disputes can be effectively adjudicated and resolved.

Source: The Irish Times February 14, 2026 13:32 UTC