The European Parliament has adopted a non-binding economic security report calling on the Commission to tighten trade-defence tools and reduce the bloc’s dependence on China. MEPs passed it by 415 votes to 105. The vote came on the same day Parliament endorsed a landmark trade deal with the United States.
The own-initiative report was drafted by MEP Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez (EPP/ESP) for the international trade committee. It sets out the EP’s position as the Commission prepares its economic security doctrine. Unlike earlier drafts that referred only to anonymous “third countries”, it names China explicitly and quantifies the exposure. It passed on the same day Parliament ratified the Turnberry trade deal with the United States.
The report points to a goods trade deficit with China of around €400 billion, even as the EU runs a surplus with the rest of the world. It also highlights almost complete reliance on Chinese supply for critical inputs: roughly 98 per cent of rare earths and over 90 per cent of magnesium imports. “We cannot continue relying on Russia for gas or on China for solar panels,” said Mr Zoido Álvarez after the vote.
Tougher tools demanded
China’s export capacity is largely a result of its state-subsidised manufacturing overcapacity. MEPs argue this has driven deindustrialisation across Europe and cannot be offset by productivity gains alone.
The report presses the Commission to adopt higher anti-dumping duties in line with those of comparable economies, an end to the ‘lesser-duty’ rule, and shorter timelines for trade-defence investigations. It also urges a dedicated outbound-investment screening framework to curb critical-technology leakage, and a stronger Commission role in authorising or blocking foreign takeovers that carry EU-wide economic security risks.
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We cannot continue relying on Russia for gas or on China for solar panels.
— Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez, rapporteur, European People’s Party (EPP/ESP)
Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe rose 67 per cent to €16.8bn in 2025, its highest level since 2018, with merger and acquisition activity jumping 89 per cent to €7.9bn and greenfield investment climbing 51 per cent to a record €8.9bn. Europe alone absorbed roughly a quarter of China’s global investment, up from 17 per cent in 2024. The report situates itself within the EU’s wider de-risking agenda alongside FDI screening and export-control reform. As the resolution puts it, “trade cannot be fair in a system where one country dominates and floods the global market.”
Member states must report by 30 June on their reviews of outbound investment in sensitive technologies, after which the Commission will weigh a dedicated screening regime. On inbound investment, the EP has already acted but has left the final say with member states, the limit MEPs now want revisited.
