The European Union has not found a convincing response to the Chinese Silk Road Initiative in recent years.

The government in Beijing has tied more and more countries in the world to itself by granting cheap and at least supposedly unconditional loans for the expansion of infrastructure.

Beijing's influence extends into the backyard of the EU in the Western Balkans and the EU itself.

Hendrik Kafsack

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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China has benefited from the enormous global need for infrastructure investments. According to estimates by the World Bank, the poorer countries recently lacked $ 2.7 trillion for this. Beijing has not only expanded its geopolitical influence, but also created sales channels for its goods, secured access to raw materials and created trade relationships in which China sets the rules, which can therefore be understood as competition with the World Trade Organization.

The European Commission now wants to counter this with its Global Gateway Initiative with its own infrastructure expansion program.

The Commission wants to mobilize 300 billion euros for this over the next six years, i.e. by 2027.

The money should flow into projects to generate energy with climate-neutral hydrogen or into underwater cable connections for data transport between continents.

The partner countries should diversify their supply of pharmaceuticals against the background of the Corona crisis.

Support for schools and education systems is also planned.

Von der Leyen: "A real alternative"

Officially, the new initiative is not intended as a response to the Silk Road Initiative - abbreviated to BRI in English. Above all, it is about making a contribution to the global fight against climate change and poverty, stressed the Commission. However, when asked on Wednesday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen admitted that “Global Gateway” could take on this: “It is a real alternative.” She emphasized that the EU projects would not result in unsustainable debts for third countries.

In fact, according to calculations by the “Aid Data” research institute, around 40 developing and emerging countries have now borrowed more than 10 percent of their annual economic output from China. In the summer, a motorway project from Montenegro also caused a stir. For the economically dubious construction of the motorway from the Adriatic port of Bar over the mountains to the border with Serbia, the small western Balkan country had borrowed heavily from China and asked the EU - albeit unsuccessfully - for help. The loan of $ 944 million, the equivalent of around 800 million euros, had catapulted the national debt to more than 100 percent of economic output. In view of this, the Commission stresses that it is taking an "ethical approach",after investing in infrastructure projects would not result in unsustainable debt or unwanted dependencies.

"Instead of making an offer to states that they cannot refuse, we as the EU want to make one that they do not want to refuse," said the SPD MEP and chairman of the trade committee, Bernd Lange. “Because we strive for fair conditions instead of dictating contracts. And we want to create cooperation and partnership instead of dependency. ”Unlike China, the EU attaches conditions to aid for the expansion of roads, the rail network, power lines and fiber optic cables. This includes compliance with high standards for the protection of human, labor and social rights as well as the principle that no investment should run counter to the EU's climate and environmental goals.

The key question is now whether the high investment sums can be realized, said Lange. If Global Gateway is not to remain a castle in the air, “we have to pull together a lot of levers”. In fact, the share of new money in the 300 billion euros is small. 135 billion euros in investments are to be made possible by guarantees from the European Fund for Sustainable Investments (EFSD +). As it did with the Juncker Investment Fund, the Commission is again relying on leveraging money with the help of guarantees.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to play a role again. In fact, only around 40 billion euros are being used from the EU and EIB budgets. In addition, there are around 18 billion euros from the EU development budget, which are to be used as grants. The remaining funds are to come from "European financial and development institutions", ie from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) or the German Reconstruction Loan Corporation (KFW).

The CSU MEP Markus Ferber therefore criticized: “A big success looks different.

China will not freeze in fear. ”The CSU MP Angelika Niebler contradicted him.

“With Global Gateway, Europe is growing up geopolitically,” she said.

“In terms of industrial policy, we are seizing the opportunity to oppose China.” The EU MEP for the Greens, Reinhard Bütikofer, spoke of a “breakthrough, an important step forward for the EU”.