Now that the European Constitution Treaty has been agreed, all the usual froth about Europe’s place in the world can be expected to redouble. Groan. So it was amusing to read John Thornhill‘s unvarnished account yesterday of how the Chinese and the Indians see the EU:
The senior Chinese official did his best to be polite. When, at a recent conference on Europe and Asia, I asked him how the Chinese viewed Europe, he chewed thoughtfully on a canapé before replying: “Europe needs to rediscover its entrepreneurial spirit.”
Many of his compatriots are more openly contemptuous, at least judging from a study by Chatham House and the Robert Schuman Foundation, reflecting the views of Chinese policymakers. Europe is more of an edifice of the past than the future, said one Chinese commentator. “Europe appears defensive, introspective, decadent and tired, too prosperous to continue to take risks, too complacent to accept change; Europe is a continent that has lost its ambition and its place in the world.”
The Indians are even more scathing. A similar study in 2006 found that Indian commentators considered Europe to be in economic decline, “too small, divided and anchored in the past” to flourish in the future. Many also saw Europe as racist and protectionist, and its claims to be a “soft power” laughable.
And this is before the EU acquires its own diplomatic service, which thanks to the Constitution Treaty it can now look forward to. The smart money in Brussels is on the whole exercise turning into a debacle: an entire diplomatic corps will need to be assembled from scratch, composed of people who for the most part have never worked in foreign policy. It’ll be fun to watch, if nothing else…
