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Made in EU-China - How the EU's role conception and expectation of its external action is shaped by China

Dalbard, Karl LU (2022) STVM23 20221
Department of Political Science
Abstract
The relationship between the European Union (EU) and China distinguishes itself by its unique nature and place in world affairs. The two distinctive economic giants have over the past two decades developed a structured relationship centred around trade and major economic interests. Growing in both intensity and complexity, EU-China engagements have over the years produced evidence to suggest for the use of different roles by both the EU and China in their interactions with each other. This study aimed to identify the roles of the EU in the context of its relationship with China during the years 2016-2021. This has been achieved by using role theory’s conceptual apparatus and a mixed-methods design including a quantitative analysis of the... (More)
The relationship between the European Union (EU) and China distinguishes itself by its unique nature and place in world affairs. The two distinctive economic giants have over the past two decades developed a structured relationship centred around trade and major economic interests. Growing in both intensity and complexity, EU-China engagements have over the years produced evidence to suggest for the use of different roles by both the EU and China in their interactions with each other. This study aimed to identify the roles of the EU in the context of its relationship with China during the years 2016-2021. This has been achieved by using role theory’s conceptual apparatus and a mixed-methods design including a quantitative analysis of the EUR-lex database as well as a qualitative coding of the two major policy documents from the studied period.

The findings seem to confirm the normative role of the European Union as its general role while suggesting that the economic role of the EU appears to be notably prominent in the context of its relationship with China. Moreover, increased occurrence of the EU role representing global action during the years 2020-2021 was identified in the quantitative part of the results. The analysis also shed light on the formation of EU role conception and the influence of China in that process. Indeed, a drastic change in role expectation was identified between the years 2016-2019, pointing to plausible inter- and intra-role conflicts which likely led to a revision of EU role conception by 2019. Through this revision process and less reliance on expectations in its policy formulation, the EU appears to be seeking more confidence in order to respond to a more assertive China. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Dalbard, Karl LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVM23 20221
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
European Union, China, role conception, role expectation, EUR-lex.
language
English
id
9080190
date added to LUP
2022-07-04 09:17:22
date last changed
2022-07-04 09:17:22
@misc{9080190,
  abstract     = {{The relationship between the European Union (EU) and China distinguishes itself by its unique nature and place in world affairs. The two distinctive economic giants have over the past two decades developed a structured relationship centred around trade and major economic interests. Growing in both intensity and complexity, EU-China engagements have over the years produced evidence to suggest for the use of different roles by both the EU and China in their interactions with each other. This study aimed to identify the roles of the EU in the context of its relationship with China during the years 2016-2021. This has been achieved by using role theory’s conceptual apparatus and a mixed-methods design including a quantitative analysis of the EUR-lex database as well as a qualitative coding of the two major policy documents from the studied period.

The findings seem to confirm the normative role of the European Union as its general role while suggesting that the economic role of the EU appears to be notably prominent in the context of its relationship with China. Moreover, increased occurrence of the EU role representing global action during the years 2020-2021 was identified in the quantitative part of the results. The analysis also shed light on the formation of EU role conception and the influence of China in that process. Indeed, a drastic change in role expectation was identified between the years 2016-2019, pointing to plausible inter- and intra-role conflicts which likely led to a revision of EU role conception by 2019. Through this revision process and less reliance on expectations in its policy formulation, the EU appears to be seeking more confidence in order to respond to a more assertive China.}},
  author       = {{Dalbard, Karl}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Made in EU-China - How the EU's role conception and expectation of its external action is shaped by China}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}