Why Brussels is getting tougher on China

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.4 • 202 Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The European Commission is preparing to take a much tougher line on China, we hear on this episode of the Brussels Playbook Podcast, with Zoya Sheftalovich joined by Nick Vinocur. Brussels is growing increasingly worried about cheap imports, industrial decline and dependence on Chinese critical raw materials. Then: Despite 20 EU sanctions packages against Russia, a major investigation reveals how Russian networks still manage to get hold of European technology through shell companies and third countries including Turkey. And finally, the European Parliament heads to Strasbourg — where MEPs are once again arguing over parliamentary immunity, prosecutorial overreach and whether lawmakers are becoming too protective of their own. Send us your thoughts — and your favorite European museum, since it’s International Museum Day — on our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:21.8	dot UK slash podcast to learn more. Good morning. It's Monday, May 18, and this is the Brussels
0:27.8	Playbook podcast. The mood in Brussels today is sharpening as the European Commission prepares to take a tougher line on China, just as the US is backing off.
0:45.1	Also on the pod, a new investigation in Germany shows how Russia still gets European tech despite sanctions.
0:52.9	And in Strasbourg, MEPs clash over parliamentary immunity and
0:56.8	whether lawmakers are protecting their own. I'm Zora Shafdlovich. I'm with me today as Nick Vinica.
1:03.0	Hey, Nick. Hey. Did you bangoranga over the weekend? Oh, you know it.
1:09.3	Congratulations to Bulgaria, to Dara, a phenomenal banger.
1:12.6	I was on board.
1:13.8	We were just banging it in the studio.
1:15.6	We were doing it this morning as if we were having a Eurovision party, but sadly, we're not.
1:22.0	Strong, strong showing.
1:23.2	Yep.
1:24.7	All right, let's get to it, Nick.
1:26.3	Our first story, it's a big one because it's about EU-China relations.
1:30.3	And basically what's been happening is that European countries and the EU have been reckoning with what to do about the trade competition that comes from China.
1:39.3	And fears that Europe is essentially getting oversaturated with Chinese products that are being sold
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