| Abstract [eng] |
Despite the fact that the European Union formally seeks a common position with regard to the People՚s Republic of China, greater political cohesion and cooperation between its states, the Member States of the EU have different views on China as an economic and political partner. China՚s economic power instruments and tactical strategies towards the European Union, the fragmentation of the Member States in their assessment of China raises the question of whether this is due to China՚s entrenched economic power in these countries? Provided that the use of China՚s economic power dimension in the EU has been explored in the scientific literature, but its political implications for the EU and its Member States are not looked deeper at, the thesis objective is: to identify and analyze China՚s economic dependence-building measures, which have the potential to create political dependency with regard to other states and to exert political influence on the decisions of the EU Member States. The research object is the measures expressing China՚s economic power on the EU Member States that shape their economic dependence and have a strong potential to influence their political decisions. Based on theoretical assumptions, the hypothesis that is core to the research was raised: the Members States of the EU, which are the target of China՚s relatively larger and/or wider economic power, tend to be more supportive of political decisions in favor of China than other EU Member States. Reviewing the research question, the objective and its supporting hypothesis, the research goals were raised: to do a literature review and apply a theory that enables operationalize the variables; to construct and apply a methodology; to analyze the voting of the Member States of the EU in multilateral formats on issues reflecting China՚s interests; to identify the Member States that voting in multilateral formats tend to pursue a potentially more favorable policy towards China and its issues of interest; to examine in detail the economic measures of dependence used by China and their extent in relation to the identified Member States; to draw up schemes reflecting the economic agreements concluded by the identified Member States with China and the political decisions taken by those countries in favor of China, and their links. |
