Meanwhile, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, acknowledges that “economic interdependence is becoming very prone to political conflict”: the pandemic disrupted supply chains; China deliberately creates dependence, Russia can turn off the gas tap at will.
One of the areas listed in the Berlin Coalition Agreement at the end of 2021 as particularly deserving of protection is energy supply. The war in Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the level of dependence of Germany in the region.
and today? Has Germany learned its lesson? For example, critics accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of unnecessarily allowing a partial takeover of the Hamburg port terminal by Chinese shipping giant COSCO, thereby triggering another form of dependency. “It is in this situation that a Europe-wide answer would have been preferable – say for example a ‘European Ports Action Group’ which would ensure that Chinese state-owned enterprises do not play one port against another or blackmail them.” We do,” said political scientist Henning Hoff.