Former president of the European Parliament talks on "European Union in Uncertainty” at SISU

ans-Gert Pottering, former president of the European Parliament delivered a keynote speech in the Global Think Tanks Forum on “European Union in Uncertainty” at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) on November 15^th.

Hosted by Gao Jian, head of the Secretariat of SAGGAS, the forum, which was jointly held by Shanghai Academy of Global Governance(SAGGAS) and Area Studies, Center for European Collaborative Studies and Center for European Union Studies, was attended by Jiang Feng, University Council Chair of SISU, Zhang Hongling, director of Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Chen Zhuangying, dean of School of German Studies, Xin Hua, deputy director of Center for European Union Studies, and Mao Xiaohong from Office of CPC Affairs, etc.

In his speech, Hans-Gert Pottering reviewed the development history of European Union, stressing that the peaceful union process of European countries ensured its achievements and the security and development among EU. He held that the challenges facing EU involve Brexit, refugee crisis, common security and defense policy of EU, military force construction and global climate change, etc.

Then, Hans-Gert Pottering and SISU teachers and students had a heated discussion on topics such as religious issues in Europe, the “Belt and Road” initiative of China, and German political situation.

When asked about his opinion on the “Belt and Road” initiative, Hans-Gert Pottering suggested that China should try to eliminate its stereotype of cooperating only with European countries and enhance the communication and collaboration with EU, especially with the leadership, the Council, the Commission and the Parliament of EU. He also said that, the continuously growing populist and nationalist forces would not make up the majority in the European Parliament. He believed that though the European Parliament election in the next year would face some difficulties, the outcome is still hopeful.

In the Q&A session, Hans-Gert Pottering emphasized on EU’s will in strengthening exchanges with China in different areas. EU supports multilateralism rather than nationalism, as he proposed, EU and China need more patience to achieve mutual understanding and find the balance.

SISU University Council Chair Jiang Feng gave a summary talk. He pointed out that Europe and China share many similarities: both sides support multilateralism, oppose hegemonism and share the responsibility of safeguarding world peace. Besides, Chinese philosophical idea of “harmony in diversity” coincides with European philosophies. EU and China might have much more in common than already known. A great Europe would benefit both of the two sides.