This week, French president Emmanuel Macron will be travelling to China to meet with his counterpart Xi Jinping, in a bid to further develop Franco-Chinese relations.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi last week urged France to back Beijing on core interests, including Taiwan, amid China’s dispute with Japan over provocative remarks by Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi. The move is part of Beijing’s broader effort to rally international support and pressure Japan diplomatically.
Macron's three-day visit, scheduled to begin on Wednesday (3 December), comes amid mounting geopolitical and economic tensions, recently brought into the spotlight by Beijing’s decision to restrict rare-earth exports — a move widely seen as an escalation of the US-China trade dispute and a weaponisation of trade, which once again revealed the EU’s dependence on third countries for critical materials in its automotive, technology, and defence sectors.
Ahead of France’s turn to chair the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies in 2026, Macron is expected to press for a rebalancing of economic ties, secure more predictable access to strategic materials, and urge Beijing to respect international trade rules. China, which is not a G7 member, has previously hit French cognac with high tariffs in retaliation for EU duties on Chinese electric vehicles.
Macron is also likely to raise broader geopolitical concerns, including tensions in the Indo-Pacific and Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. Europe has repeatedly accused Beijing of fueling Putin’s war machine, but China continues to present itself as a neutral actor and rejects Western claims of complicity.
In Brussels, EU defence ministers are meeting on Monday (1 December), with the war in Ukraine and defence deals with the UK and Canada high on the agenda.
Ukraine’s defence minister Denys Shmyhal and Nato chief Mark Rutte will join the discussion on Ukraine, with a focus on military support as European allies have become the main source of military aid to Kyiv following the US’ tapering of direct supplies.
Military support and Trump’s peace plan will also be at the centre of Nato foreign affairs ministers meeting on Wednesday.
For his part, Russian president Vladimir Putin will travel to India on Thursday (4 December). During the visit, Putin and PM Narendra Modi will hold high-level talks as part of the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. Russia sees India as a partner with which it can cooperate independently of Western influence, including on defence ties that go back decades.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is expected to present a new proposal to simplify environmental legislation on Wednesday, alongside a separate Economic Security Package aimed at curbing China and Russia’s increasing tendency to exploit trade and strategic supply chains for political gain.
Also on Wednesday, an EU-Armenia summit will take place in Brussels to discuss further cooperation and Armenia’s pro-European course, following the recent publication of a plan to make visa-free travel between the two parties a reality.
On Monday, EU ministers responsible for social affairs will discuss the EU’s strategy for affordable housing and the long-stalled equal treatment directive. The proposal has been stalled for 17 years due to a lack of unanimity among EU member states, though the European Commission recently revived it after initially planning to withdraw it.
Discussion on how to secure the manufacturing and supply chains of critical medicines will be held on Tuesday.
On the same day, MEPs and EU capitals will hold a new trialogue to agree on new rules to phase out Russian natural gas imports.
Europe’s housing crisis and potential solutions will also be discussed between MEPs of the special committee on housing and EU energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen on Tuesday.
EU commissioner for crisis management Hadja Lahbib will present MEPs in the development committee plans on humanitarian aid on the same day.
Still on Tuesday, a public hearing on safe and accessible abortion, following the official submission of the European Citizens' Initiative "My Voice, My Choice” in September.
On Wednesday, MEPs in the internal market committee will discuss with the commission the digital omnibus, the 2030 consumer agenda and the problem of illegal products entering the single market
The impact of crypto on the EU’s financial system and the digital euro will be on the agenda of the economic affairs committee on Thursday. EU commission vice-president Teresa Ribera and European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde are expected to join MEPs for talks on competitiveness and economic resilience.
On Wednesday and Thursday, MEPs in the legal affairs committee will decide whether to challenge the commission’s decision to withdraw the AI liability directive — a move that could lead to a court case at the European Court of Justice.
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Elena is EUobserver's editor-in-chief. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.
Elena is EUobserver's editor-in-chief. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.