We share concerns on the economic side of things for a level playing field for our companies. Thats it. Americans, Anglo-Saxons in general, do not seem to be able to understand why other societies would come to different conclusions over how they should be administrated. In Europe, besides the ideological hard liberals (Verhofstadt-type people), who are a fringe (though numerous on internet forums, no doubt), there is generally to be an indifference to how others administrate themselves. Europe only clashes with other Civilizations when its core interests are at stake, rather than ideologically, as the US does. As such the US, in particular, is led by democratic ideologues meanwhile in the EU, the CDU and other centre-right parties, are the political vehicles of economic interest.
But Brussels has identified China as a "systemic rival" on par with Putin's Russia and Islamic fundamentalists. That didn't generate many headlines in Europe, but definitely in China, where words have much more meaning. That seems like a core interest to me. Since China's economic policies are deeply tied to its political system, this means that China's political system itself poses a threat to Europe's core interests, even if not quite the way Washington sees it.
European leaders have become more mature thanks to the Trump Administration's antics. When Trump tweeted that Europe should spend more to defend itself, Europe's political class balked in public - but privately, they agree. The global environment that allowed Europe to prosper post-WW2 was underpinned in large part by US power, and if the US isn't so reliable, then Europe needs to do more to protect itself.
Many European governments have already recognized this, such as France's arms sales to Taiwan, the Dutch refusing to export EUV machines to China, Germany and Brussels giving themselves more rights to veto M&As, Huawei being increasingly shut out of Europe's 5G networks, etc. Ironically, for all the handwringing about Germans dominating Brussels, China's brand of state-backed capitalism is causing the idea that Europe should build its global champions to gain traction, so that Europe can be respected as a global power. Charles de Gaulle would be proud.
Anyway, to conclude, the EU-China deal won't be quite what it seems, because China cannot fully achieve its commitments without undermining its own economic system, which is deeply linked to its political system. It has a tendency of allowing full competition in sectors where there are already plenty of domestic players, while ensuring that sectors with big state-owned enterprises don't face real competition. A real market economy requires genuine separation of powers and an independent judiciary. The day that China seriously introduces these is the first nail in the CCP's coffin.
