"Between China and the United States, Europe still does not know how to think about its own power"

The European Union (EU) has experienced an intense geopolitical sequence: on Thursday, July 24, the leaders of the European institutions went to Beijing for the EU-China summit , which marked fifty years of bilateral relations between the two powers, while on July 28, a trade framework agreement was concluded in Scotland between Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen which imposes customs duties of 15% on most European products imported into the United States.

The EU-China summit took place in the shadow of the threats of a trade war that the United States was waving over Europe, adding to concerns about the trajectory of transatlantic relations. In both cases, the EU could have asserted itself as a true geopolitical power by using its economic tools, but ultimately , Brussels' choices call into question the EU's very capacity to promote an ambitious common geopolitical policy.

While European decision-makers – whether at institutional level or within Member States – often stress the need for the Union to make greater use of its economic tools to exert influence in international relations and other actors, this attempt has resulted in a major failure.

Indeed, the EU-China summit press release is very detailed, but it does not mention any concrete reciprocal measures, any targeted sanctions, and even less a timetable for implementation. For example, there is no reference to the anti-coercion instrument adopted in 2023 , which remains without strong enforcement.

The underutilization of the EU's trade tools is even more evident in the resolution—even preliminary—of tensions across the Atlantic over customs duties. Ultimately, the Commission president agreed to 15% tariffs on most European goods imported into the United States . Some analysts thus concluded that Brussels had not resolved, but rather codified, a trade war.

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