Brussels my love: EU disunity on China, US intelligence leaks and the Israel-Palestinian crisis

Euronews’ Brussels bureau brings you its latest episode of Brussels, my love, a weekly talk show that breaks down European news and politics.

This week, we were joined by German MEP Reinhard Bütikofer from the Greens, Bulgarian MEP Eva Maydell from the European People’s Party, and Marie-Anne Brouillon, from the think tank GLOBSEC Brussels.

The panellists discussed how the European Union is coming across as disunited regarding China.

Over the past few weeks, since China opened up after the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of EU leaders have started to visit Beijing.

In late March, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was the first European leader to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

French President Emmanuel Macron followed suit last week in a joint trip with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Macron went with von der Leyen in part to show off European unity and even met her for lunch in Paris before the trip. But his comments after the trip sparked controversy around the European Union’s position regarding Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the European Commission president did not just tag along for the photo opportunity. Von der Leyen set her stance clear before she left describing a China that is “more repressive at home and more assertive abroad”.

Panelists disagreed on whether or not the EU should speak with one voice and said a debate about EU-China relations would take place in European Parliament in Strasbourg next week.

Watch Brussels my love in the video player above.