Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has already announced that she hopes private investors will invest 300 billion euros in these areas. This should be made possible through favorable loans and guarantees from the EU. The focus is primarily on green energy, the digitization of the economy and transport. In addition, the money must also go to education, research and improving health systems.
The Global Gateway project is actually a copy of China’s BRI, says CDA MEP Tom Berendsen. ‘China has been looking a lot to the West to copy all kinds of things, like our technology. We will now copy China’s policy.’ The plan must guarantee ‘strategic investments’ for the benefit of Europe as well.
Berendsen does not see a form of neocolonialism, as critics call the plan. ‘In recent years, Europe has been concerned with itself and with its differences. Meanwhile, you see other parties in the world, such as China, are strengthening their position. They strategically bought everywhere. We also depend on other parts of the world for many things, such as raw materials and energy. So I think it is very good that there are plans in Europe to (…) examine how we can strengthen our position outside the EU as well.’
The EU amount pales in comparison to China
Berendsen is afraid of being late with this project. “We are very late. However, it’s better to start now than to wait even longer. This is a concrete programme, even if it has yet to lead to concrete projects with which we can strengthen this position in the world.’
While the EU wants to pump €300 billion into the economies of South America, Africa and Asia, China has already poured more than €3.5 trillion into these economies. With that money, China has taken on strategic economic positions in ports, airports and railways, among other things.