Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation

19-20 April 2012, Brussels

Identifying opportunities for, and hurdles to, EU-China cooperation over attempts to make the world economy greener is the topic of the international conference organised jointly by the College of Europe and the Madariaga – College of Europe Foundation, in cooperation with the Committee of the Regions. The conference attracted policy-makers, representatives of businesses and enterprises, local actors, think tanks, scholars and civil society to exchange positions, discuss policy proposals and develop areas for further research and cooperation. The areas concerned included agriculture, manufacturing, energy, urbanisation and mobility, and horizontal issues such as trade, technology transfers and the role of civil society.

The necessity for close collaboration between these two global players stems from their combined economic weight and their benchmarking roles in addressing the issues of climate change and resource scarcity. Demand for global resources is indeed increasing, as demand levels in emerging economies are starting to converge with those of advanced economies. The world is therefore confronted with faster resource exhaustion and climate change, which translate into price rises, increasing economic rivalries and political tensions, as well as ecological damage. Combined, this has a profound effect upon vulnerable countries, located primarily in Africa and in Asia.

As two dominant global players, China and the EU have a decisive role to play in the shaping of a new global pattern of production and consumption based on three pillars: resource and energy efficiency, renewable energies and consumption moderation. Multilateral negotiations concerning the assessment of potential risks, the magnitude of efforts and their timing, the apportionment of responsibilities among players and concerning the types of mechanisms continue. Meanwhile, the EU and China have to do their own homework, exploiting to the full their respective economic systems (the EU 2020 Strategy and the 12th Five Year Plan). But they would also gain by working together: exchanging experiences and building partnerships would indeed lead to better results at home and at the global level. This was the rationale for the conference.

This high-level conference was organised in collaboration with our distinguished Chinese partners and it took place on 19-20 April 2012 in Brussels. A policy dialogue was held in the morning of the 19th of April. High-level officials from both sides were invited to give keynote speeches on the achievements, the hurdles and the perspectives for further cooperation between the EU and China.

Please follow this link to see the latest version of the programme.

For more detailed conference information, please contact Prof. Dr. Jing Men, the InBev-Baillet Latour Chair of EU-China Relations at the College of Europe or her assistant Mr. Gino Brunswijck: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

  Concept Note

  Programme