Global Gateway – the new European Silk Road?
15 December 2021 9:00 am CET
Boosting European connectivity and the EU’s strategic autonomy against the backdrop of EU-China rivalry
In cooperation with Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ) and French Institute for International Relations (Ifri).
Venue
Online event - registration via https://form.jotform.com/213392510274349
Description
Over the past year, the topic of connectivity has picked up steam in the European Union. Just a couple of days ago, the European Commission launched its Global Gateway, the new European Strategy to boost “smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport and strengthen health, education and research systems across the world”. The initiative, aimed to mobilise up to €300 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027, is new in two ways: it is an attempt to internalise the logic of strategic competition with China, which has gained ground in the past years; and it is an attempt to increase EU visibility through better branding, given the scope of the EU’s existing engagements worldwide. But will this renewed strategy be fit for the challenges the EU ambitions to meet? How will it interact with China’s Belt and Road initiative in Europe and beyond?
wiiw in collaboration with the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (CFA/ÖFZ) and the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) would like to invite you to discuss these issues and many others. The event will take place in the framework of the Rencontres de Schwarzenbergplatz and at the occasion of the inauguration of the night train Vienna-Paris.
Working language: English
Programme
9:00 Opening
Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, Secretary General of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and former Head of the European Union Delegation to China
9:10 Panel Discussion
Romana Vlahutin, Ambassador at Large for Connectivity, European External Action Service
Mario Holzner, Executive Director of the Vienna Institute for international Economic Studies
Plamen Tonchev, MERICS European China Policy Fellow and Head of Asia Unit at the Institute of International Economic Relations, Athens
Moderation: Dominique David, President of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and Advisor to the Executive Chairman of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI)
10:30 end of the event