Revista de Economie Mondiala/ Journal of Global Economics

5-36

Authors: Ana-Cristina Bâlgăr, Sarmiza Pencea

Since the Cold War, German foreign policy has been guided by the classical liberal concept of “change through trade” as a catalyst for integrating into the global economy, leading to prosperity, peace and political liberalism. This axiomatic principle has been at the heart of establishing and deepening the economic relations between Germany and China, coming to govern the mutually beneficial partnership of the two states for several decades. Nevertheless, a series of measures and actions undertaken by the Chinese government in recent years have led to the cooling of bilateral ties and prompted the German authorities to decide to develop a new foreign policy strategy, focused on reducing the economic dependence on this country with diverging political interests. To better understand the reasons behind the current paradigm shift, our article takes a historical look at the evolution of German policy towards China, seeking to identify the main determinants and particularities of each of the successive stages that have unfolded from the times when the mutual interdependence of the two began to develop, to the current phase, that calls for extensive policy readjustment.

52-64

Authors: Cristian Moisoiu

Since the 2000s, the European Union has proclaimed itself a forerunner of climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. The EU has adopted extremely ambitious targets and objectives ever since, with a view to accomplishing its transformation into a low-carbon economy. In the current context of instability and crisis, the climate policies and the structural reform decisions, mainly in the energy and manufacturing sectors, seem to bear on the international competitiveness of the European economy and on the living standards of a large number of the European citizens. From another perspective, the wave of crises that hit the European economy might be interpreted as a window of opportunity for the governments and businesses to promote innovative solutions in order to leapfrog from energy intensive industries towards more performant, higher value-adding ones. The present article will expound the EU low-carbon economy model and the main policies it suggested, as well as the challenges and risks that occur in this tense context.