EU strikes clean energy deals in global forum to counter China’s investment plan
The EU has announced a raft of new investment agreements as part of a two-day forum on Global Gateway, the bloc’s infrastructure partnership plan to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
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00:00 Developing countries need billions of euros in infrastructure investment if they are to
00:04 improve basic living conditions, and the EU says it`s putting the money on the table.
00:10 At the first summit of its kind, the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels on Wednesday saw
00:14 around 20 heads of state and government demonstrate their interest in the Bloc`s investment program,
00:20 launched two years ago now.
00:23 Ursula von der Leyen says that many can offer money, but Europe is doing it on a values-based
00:28 approach.
00:30 Global Gateway is about giving choices to countries, better choices, because for many
00:38 countries around the world, investment options are not only limited, but they all come with
00:46 a lot of small print and sometimes with a very high price.
00:51 Sometimes it is the environment that pays the price, sometimes it is workers who are
00:58 stripped of their rights, sometimes foreign workers are brought in, and sometimes national
01:07 sovereignty is compromised.
01:10 The EU is throwing 300 billion euros into the ring for the next three years, as it plays
01:14 catch up with China`s own Belt and Road Initiative, which has already invested $1 trillion over
01:19 the last decade.
01:21 Global investment agreements were signed with countries from Africa and Asia, though, including
01:25 one with Bangladesh.
01:28 Green energy projects in the country will receive 45 million euros in EU grants and
01:33 the 350 million euros loan from the European Investment Bank.
01:38 Aware of the global competition for greater geopolitical influence, Bangladesh will maintain
01:43 its involvement in the Chinese initiative and will assess each case individually.
01:49 For our development, anybody come forward, we always judge that any project or any assistance
01:59 we receive, actually we take loan and then we repay the bill with interest.
02:06 So, for our development, we try to avail every, you know, things which will be beneficial
02:16 for our country.
02:18 Global energy and climate, transport, health, education and research are the five domains
02:22 of investment.
02:23 The EU expects its partners to buy into the bloc`s landmark Green Deal philosophy and
02:29 in return, secure access to critical raw material supplies.
02:33 Critics say that the global gateway has to evolve a lot for the EU to have a more geopolitical
02:39 influence in the world.
02:40 And the reality is that 18 member states of the EU have signed in the past contracts with
02:46 the Chinese initiative and many big companies in the EU have also Chinese investment.
02:52 Isabel Marques da Silva, Euronews in Brussels.
02:56 [Whoosh]