ABSTRACT
China is one of the most prominent topics on the EU’s external relations agenda. The intensity with which EU-China relations have been developed, especially since the 1990s, clearly indicates that Europeans do react to the rise of China – be it in economic, political or security political terms. However, in the political as well as in the academic debate there is an ongoing dispute whether there exists something that can be called an “EU China policy” or not. Looking at the sum of the multitude of different forms of relations that are conducted between the EU and China, it can be claimed that there is a China policy of the EU. This policy is determined by a variety of interests, from the governments of the EU member states, from interest groups, from the EU institutions (the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament) and from the legal framework of the EU/EC Treaties.
