Sánchez, against the tide of the EU regarding relations with China: "Europe needs friends"
EU leaders are increasingly convinced that action must be taken against the trade deficit with Beijing
BrusselsPedro Sánchez is already used to swimming against the current in the European Union. He was one of the first leaders to raise his voice against Benjamin Netanyahu and, later, against Donald Trump. He also refused to accept the major rearmament demanded by NATO and, among other things, is the voice that has shown itself most openly opposed to the hardening of migration policies. And now, he adds another battle in which he finds himself increasingly alone: at a time when the community club intends to toughen its tone against China, Sánchez defends it as a "potential ally". "Europe needs friends", he defended at the entrance to the meeting of European leaders.
The EU's trade deficit with China is growing, and member states already agree in calling it "unsustainable", as reported by various diplomatic sources. In fact, China's surplus with the EU increased to 360.6 billion euros in 2025. But Moncloa resists this, and argues that it is necessary to bet on pragmatism and build bridges with China. For this reason, at the European Council this Thursday and Friday, it has been noted that more and more member states want to toughen rhetoric against Beijing.
The President of the Spanish Government has warned of his stance. “I believe that what Europe needs are friends”, he defended when asked about this issue. “There is already enough fragmentation, enough confrontation in global politics. We need friends, balanced relationships, we need to be pragmatic and build bridges with both large economies and potential allies such as China, and with traditional allies such as the United States”, he explained.
Despite the Spanish government's reservations, which fears commercial reprisals on sectors vital to its economy, such as the pork or automotive sectors, the balance of European leaders in the trade war against China is increasingly tipping one way. On the more belligerent and majority side are states such as France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, or Denmark, which have openly expressed the need to take "trade defense" measures. And in a more moderate position are states such as Germany which, while recognizing that they "cannot stand idly by" in the face of China's industrial capacity and subsidized exports, are more cautious and advocate for maintaining current trade tools. Only Spain and (with a more measured tone) Greece have openly defended the need to foster relations with the Asian giant.
"China is a different China than it used to be," said Danish Prime Minister, the socialist Mette Frederiksen. "China is an existential threat to our industry, to our economies if we do not address the economic and trade imbalances," warned the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden. Even the European People's Party – the most influential and powerful in the EU – has issued a strong statement urging summit leaders to raise their tone with Beijing and equip themselves with mechanisms to reverse "China's unfair intervention in the market".
Lately, the conviction has gained weight among leaders that a new legal mechanism is needed to combat Beijing's unfair trade. The recipe they propose – inspired by Donald Trump's trade policy – would allow for imposing tariffs on Chinese products or capping imports from various sectors if "unfair trade practices" are identified.
Spain is aware that the dependence on Chinese imports "must be corrected", according to diplomatic sources, but they argue that "dialogue with China is the way forward". Regarding this instrument, Spain maintains that the tools they currently have are already good enough and, although they are open to completing them, they assure that "there is no magic instrument" that can solve a problem that affects so many sectors of the economy.
The renewed "momentum" in Ukraine
Beyond the debate with China, another element that looms over the summit debate is whether the EU could open a diplomatic channel with Russia to prepare for future negotiations. In this regard, the President of the European Council, António Costa, has limited himself to celebrating what he considers "a historic week" for Ukraine's progress in European integration. Accompanied by Volodymyr Zelensky at the entrance to the European summit, he stressed that Ukraine has the support of the 27 EU member states, the United States, and the rest of the G-7 states, with whom they formalized a "historic declaration" this Wednesday. "We are working together to support Ukraine," assured the Portuguese leader, who maintains that they have "decided to put more pressure on Russia to reduce its capacity to fight against Ukraine".
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also praised the efforts to integrate Ukraine into the European club and announced that more negotiation chapters with Kyiv could be opened this summer. Regarding the situation on the front, the German leader said she has "the impression that the tide is turning. We see that Ukraine is holding its ground and even regaining territory." Thus, she wanted to send a message to Moscow and committed to sending a loan of ninety billion euros over the next two years. "We will stand by Ukraine," she assured.
Zelensky, who is attending the summit as a guest, has "finally" celebrated the unanimity of the European Union, in the first summit after Viktor Orbán's defeat in Hungary. "I agree with the presidents that this is a very special moment," stated Zelensky, who argues that now is the time to "pressure Putin to dialogue to achieve a ceasefire and end the war".