Between two giants: Europe’s strategy for double de-risking

Conventional wisdom has long held that closely aligning with the United States is a strategic necessity for the EU when managing the distinct set of economic, technological and diplomatic trade-offs that exposure to China presents. Yet recent developments suggest that this strategy is no longer tenable. The latest US National Security Strategy signals a clear intent to pursue a China strategy that is increasingly decoupled from the preferences, constraints and timelines of its traditional allies. 

This shift marks the emergence of a new strategic environment in which the EU can no longer assume that transatlantic alignment will automatically translate into shared risk assessments, policy instruments or economic outcomes. Therefore, it is time to consider alternative ways to tackle China-related dependencies that continue to pose systemic challenges across critical technologies, supply chains and global governance frameworks. 

This invite-only roundtable offers an opportunity to discuss medium-term decisions on export controls, industrial subsidies, investment screening, technology cooperation and standards-setting that will define the EU’s room to manoeuvre well into the 2030s. This meeting brings together stakeholders and decision-makers to help the EU recalibrate its strategic autonomy goals as the US consolidates a more unilateral China strategy.