THE EUROPEAN UNION'S ROLE EXPECTATIONS OF CHINA. A qualitative content analysis of the European Union’s role expectations of China from 2003 - 2023

Abstract

This study is investigating the European Union’s political approach to the People’s Republic of China by the application of role theory. The objective of the study is to analyze how the EU’s role expectations of China have developed during the time period of 2003-2023, and to anchor these changes in geopolitical events to understand when the changes in role expectations occurred. The study is applying a methodology of qualitative content analysis with material from official EU communications and policies. The analysis is conducted with role theory and an application of liberal and realist international relations theory. The analysis demonstrates three distinct eras of EU-China relations, with noticeable changes in EU policy language over time, changing from liberal to realist. The EU indicated high normative role expectations of China in the early 2000s but altered these expectations in the late 2010s. This can be traced back to various geopolitical changes and demonstrates Chinas’ overall ability to reject the EU’s role expectations and liberal norms while retaining its economic relationship with the EU. During the research period, the EU’s role conception changes from an actor that wishes to disseminate liberal values in its cooperation with China, to an actor that wants to protect liberal values in its international engagements.