SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

The European Union (EU) is founded on values such as the respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, which it ostensibly upholds and promotes in its external relations. Trade and investment policy is considered a prime medium for exporting these values. Nevertheless, the EU is struggling to consistently uphold its constitutive norms, often prioritizing material interests. This paper argues that the EU tends to advance normative stances in the presence of highly asymmetrical commercial relationships and pursues material interests with salient partners such as Saudi Arabia. However, when partners become too salient in the world scenario, and their actions are constantly in the public eye, the pressure to be normative reappears alongside commercial interests through four mechanisms. This is the case of China, a strategic partner. This paper first juxtaposes the EU’s normative nature and material interests within the international economic sphere. Second, it analyzes the ambivalence stemming from the conflicting intersection of the two. Finally, it empirically demonstrates the EU’s perpetual struggle between normative values and material interests with China through a case study on the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). The discussion is further enriched by a reflection on how the EU should move forward.