The European Union is weighing newly tightened controls to curb the flow of advanced Western technologies to China and other competing powers. Reports citing Valdis Dombrovskis, the EC Executive Vice President, outline a framework meant to close gaps that allow sensitive tech to cross borders despite existing limits.
Dombrovskis emphasizes that the goal is to close loopholes that let companies bypass export restrictions. The idea is to reduce incentives for relocation of production to regions outside the EU and to ensure that critical technologies remain within safe regulatory boundaries.
Sources close to the Financial Times indicate that the contemplated measures respond to ongoing pressure from Washington on allied governments to present a united front in technology controls. The discussions reflect a broader strategy to coordinate export rules and foreign investment policies so they work in tandem rather than at cross purposes.
In the executive view, foreign investment screening forms the counterpart to export controls. Strengthening oversight in this area is seen as a means to limit strategic access to capital that could enable expansion of sensitive capabilities in ways that undermine containment goals.
As reported by the Financial Times, officials acknowledge that plans to curb Beijing’s access to strategic tech remain at an early stage. The path forward will require careful alignment among EU member states, balancing security priorities with industrial and research interests that rely on open collaboration with partners abroad.
Former EU representative Peter Stano criticized China’s approach to the Ukraine crisis, noting a lack of neutrality in Beijing’s proposed framework. His remarks were in response to inquiries about why the EU did not adopt Beijing’s plan as a pathway to resolving the Ukraine conflict, highlighting the EU’s emphasis on independent assessment and legitimacy in any settlement.