Abstract
Chinese economic presence in Europe is primarily discussed as a security threat with its impact on sustainability remaining a rather marginal issue. This article investigates the repercussions of Chinese capital’s surge in Europe for environmental protection and analyses the reasons behind its poor performance. We examine five key Chinese projects in Southeast Europe, a sub-region that includes countries with different forms of association with European institutions and with varying levels of development and state capacity. We find that the negative environmental impact of these projects cannot be attributed to the commonly held perception of the Chinese as inherently “bad” investors and of host states as “weak” and dependent. Rather, we identify a synergy of failures between investors, host states and regional institutions that results in poor regulation and compliance. This finding calls for the inclusion of sustainability in foreign investment screening mechanisms and the abandonment of contradictory developmental priorities in the region.
Highlights
Chinese outward capital has attracted considerable attention worldwide, triggering both positive and negative reactions
We argue that the challenges Chinese capital poses emanate from a combination of factors: (1) a disregard for regulatory standards and related technical and legal know- how by Chinese companies due to their understanding of environmental issues as a matter of bilateral negotiations rather than compliance; (2) the complicity of local actors, mainly political and economic elites which, by trying to “lure” investors, undermine the enforcement of regulatory frameworks and sustainability goals and (3) the ambivalence of the European Union (EU) in terms of its developmental priorities and commitment to sustainability that results in regional regulatory gaps and anaemic monitoring mechanisms, and in terms of enlargement and the future of Southeast Europe (SEE)
To put in a nutshell, across all cases we find that Chinese companies bring an understanding of development that contradicts European norms and regulations on sustainability, their failure to comply with local standards and practices is attributable to the laxity of host governments and the absence of adequate supervision by European institutions
Summary
Chinese outward capital has attracted considerable attention worldwide, triggering both positive and negative reactions. Regarding Southeast Europe (SEE), over the last five years, European policy makers, think tanks, consultants and journalists have exhibited rather alarmist attitudes towards expanding Chinese economic activity and the political leverage this might entail in a region traditionally seen as Europe’s “soft underbelly.” This ongoing, and largely inconclusive, debate has concentrated on political and security concerns about China’s actual or potential influence over current and aspiring EU member-states and its impact on EU cohesion (Benner et al, 2018; Casarini, 2015; Godement and Vasselier, 2017; Hellström, 2016; Karásková et al, 2018; Meunier, 2014; Pavlićević, 2018; Rogelja and Tsimonis, 2020; Vangeli, 2017; van Pinxteren, 2017). Both the debate and the policy responses have widely neglected areas of direct concern for European citizens and societies, including labour practices, environmental protection and the impact of Chinese capital on local economies (with notable exceptions like Drahokoupil, 2017 and Neilson, 2019 on labour)
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