ABSTRACT
Despite being a Chinese initiative, the concept of a Maritime Silk Road, if implemented, will bring two economically co-equal powerhouses of global trade, of which one is Europe, closer to each other. As OBOR will ‘cross into already established … economic and political regimes’, the conclusion of EU–Chinese trade agreements – now complicated by Brexit proceedings – will be a necessary. While on the one hand, EU rules on trans-European networks, multimodal transport and harbour infrastructure policy will have to be adjusted to OBOR/MSR, Chinese involvement cannot overlook the well-established EU principles relating to public tendering, transparency and State aid, according to which specific harbours or means of transport must not be privileged, on the other. The EU, in having set up an ‘EU China Connectivity Platform’ and seeking to activate the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), has only just started to brace itself for the OBOR/MSR challenge. This being said, at the present stage, its appreciation of the political implications appears to still be more pronounced than its awareness of the associated legal questions.
