France and Germany are pursuing a new initiative to boost industrial provisions and protect jobs, as Europe endeavors to shield its businesses from China.
A joint Franco-German fighter jet program collapsed last month amid squabbling between defense contractors, underscoring the blocās difficulties in unifying around lofty industrial goals. This latest attempt involves Paris relaxing a planned phaseout of new combustion-engine cars, as Berlin tries to staunch bleeding among its carmakers. Volkswagen is weighing 100,000 job cuts amid competition from Chinese rivals.
As the EU struggles to unify against Chinaās growing trade surplus, Beijing is courting individual states: āIt has always been a favourite pastime of the Chinese leaders to divide and conquer us,ā a trade expert said.