Germany and China are actively lobbying European Union members to oppose tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) in next week’s vote, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing senior EU sources.

Berlin is reaching out to other European capitals to urge them to oppose the tariffs in the vote, scheduled for 25 September.

This comes as Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao toured Europe to discuss the high-profile trade dispute with senior figures in influential governments.

According to Bloomberg, Germany is working with fellow carmaker Spain to persuade member states to abandon the plan.

Habeck-Wang meeting

After spending the weekend in Italy, Wang met Robert Habeck, Germany’s minister for the green economy, in Berlin on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the arrangements.

The Chinese commerce minister said the European Union’s imposition of tariffs on electric vehicles would “seriously hinder” trade and investment cooperation and harm both China and Germany.

In talks with Habeck, Wang said he hoped to find a solution in line with World Trade Organisation rules as soon as possible and prevent the escalation of economic and trade frictions between China and the EU, according to a statement released by China’s commerce ministry on Wednesday.

Wang added that he hoped Germany would “act in its own interest” and force the European Commission and China to work in the same direction.

We must avoid trade conflict at all costs, Habeck says

Habeck said Germany supports free trade, welcomes Chinese car and parts companies to invest in Europe and will encourage the European Commission to find an appropriate solution with China and make every effort to avoid trade conflicts, the ministry said in a statement.

Habeck called on the EU and China to find a political solution to the dispute over Chinese-made electric vehicles, arguing that a trade conflict must be avoided ‘at all costs’.

“My position is therefore clear: we need a political solution. The European Commission and China should make every effort to find a negotiated solution. I am also in contact with the European Commission on this issue,” Habeck added.

Beijing offers Berlin ‘dialogue and consultation’

Wang also met with German Minister for Special Affairs Wolfgang Schmidt in Berlin, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a separate statement on Wednesday.

Wang told Schmidt that China insists that the anti-subsidy case against the country be properly resolved through dialogue and consultation.

Wang said China was “deeply disappointed” that the EU ignored China’s efforts, insisted on imposing high countervailing duties and hastily rejected the package solution proposed by the Chinese industry.

Chinese commerce minister to meet European car companies

Wang said China would not give up its efforts and would continue consultations ‘until the last moment’.

It is hoped that Germany, as a core member of the EU, will take the lead and play an active role in encouraging the European Commission to show political will and work with China to properly resolve the case,” Wang said, according to a second statement on the talks from the commerce ministry on Wednesday.

Wang, who will meet with European and Chinese auto industry officials at a roundtable in Brussels on Wednesday, will also meet EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis in the Belgian capital on Thursday morning to try to prevent the tariffs from taking effect.

Serbian President Alexandar Vucic has signed a decree to reintroduce mandatory military service, marking the return of conscription after its abolition in 2011. The new measure mandates 75 days of military service for men, while women will have the option to serve voluntarily.

“We will not attack anyone, but we want to deter those who pose a threat to us,” Vucic stated, without specifying any particular source of threat. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong military force for the nation’s defense.

For the decree to take effect, it must be ratified by the Serbian government and parliament, where Vucic’s ruling party holds a substantial majority.

The move comes as military tensions rise across Europe, with several nations reconsidering or reinstating conscription. Croatia, a neighboring country, announced in August that it would bring back compulsory military service, set to begin on January 1, 2025, after discontinuing it in 2008. Croatia’s Defence Minister, Ivan Anusic, stated that the decision aligns with modernization plans and commitments to NATO. The Croatian conscription will require two months of service.

Across Europe, other countries are following similar paths. Latvia reinstated conscription in 2023 in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Norway, where military service is already mandatory, revealed plans to recruit an additional 20,000 personnel. In the United Kingdom, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged in May to bring back conscription due to the “growing threat from authoritarian regimes” such as Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea. Germany is also debating various options for reinstating military service, while Lithuania has introduced a nine-month conscription period for young men finishing school.

The return of conscription in Serbia reflects broader regional and global security concerns, particularly considering Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and the subsequent military build-up in the Balkans.

Mario Draghi’s call for the EU to continue issuing joint bonds to finance key investments has deepened the divisions within Germany’s already fragmented coalition government and received strong criticism from the Netherlands.

In his eagerly awaited report on the future of the EU’s competitiveness, former European Central Bank President Draghi stated on September 9, Monday, that the EU should continue to build on the model of its €806.9 billion pandemic recovery plan, provided that “political and institutional conditions” are met.

The NextGenerationEU (NextGenEU) program provides grants and loans to member countries for critical investments in exchange for targeted reforms, financed by jointly undertaken debts by EU member states.

Historically fiscally “conservative” EU countries, including the Netherlands and Germany, strongly oppose the renewal of NextGenEU beyond its August 2026 deadline.

FDP’s concerns: “Bureaucracy and planned economy”

Christian Lindner, leader of the liberal FDP and German Finance Minister, wrote on X on Monday that “the EU’s joint borrowing will not solve structural problems: companies are not lacking subsidies. They are tied up by bureaucracy and a planned economy. And they struggle to access private capital. We need to work on that.”

Lindner’s assessment stands in sharp contrast to that of Green Party’s Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck, who described Draghi’s report as “a call to action for the new European Commission and the EU as a whole.”

Greens support Draghi

Habeck said, “I am happy to pledge support for the [report’s proposals]. Innovation, better framework conditions, and mobilizing public and private sector investments are the order of the day.”

The differing views among ministers emerged amid ongoing budget disagreements within Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s federal coalition government in Germany.

Known as a “fiscal hawk,” Lindner has repeatedly called for deep cuts in public spending to comply with Germany’s constitutionally mandated debt brake. These calls have been resisted by the Greens and the SDP.

Netherlands: More money is not always the solution

Draghi’s report received a uniformly negative response from members of the Netherlands’ four-party coalition government, which includes far-right factions.

According to Dutch news agency ANP, Eelco Heinen, a well-known “fiscal hawk” and member of the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, said, “More money is not always the solution.”

A similar assessment came from Dirk Beljaarts of Geert Wilders’ right-wing Freedom Party (PVV). Beljaarts stated, “Additional public investments are not an end in themselves. They are only necessary in cases of unfair competition or market failure.”

Objections from EU diplomats

Criticisms of Draghi’s call for a significant increase in EU-level investments have also been echoed by some EU diplomats.

An EU diplomat speaking to Euractiv referred to the bloc’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) or “regular” budget, stating, “The discussion on more EU investment will be part of the next MFF debate.”

The bloc’s current seven-year €1.2 trillion MFF will end in 2027.

Southern countries support the report: Support from Spain and France

On the other hand, Draghi’s proposals have received support from some key member states.

Bernard Guetta, a member of French President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, praised the report’s call for “common defense, industrial policy, and abandoning the taboos of joint debt.”

Speaking to Euractiv, Guetta said, “It is absolutely necessary to urge member states, the European Parliament, and the future Commission to fully embrace the idea of industrial policies and joint investments.”

Guetta also called on member states like Germany and the Netherlands to “open their eyes and end their ideologies” regarding joint borrowing.

The deputy acknowledged that France, which was officially “reprimanded” by the European Commission earlier this year for high public spending, might not be the most reliable country to advocate for EU joint financing due to its own public finances being in the red.

Guetta’s support for Draghi’s key proposals was echoed by Spain’s Finance Minister Carlos Cuerpo, who, like Draghi, believes that some of the necessary financing must come at the EU level. Cuerpo shared the need for urgent work on a permanent EU joint debt program.

Opposition in Italy: Lega and Five Star Movement against Draghi’s proposals

In Italy, while opposition from the Democratic Party and right-wing coalition members Forza Italia and Brothers of Italy generally agree that Draghi’s proposals are a “step in the right direction,” the coalition’s small partner Lega and the opposition populist Five Star Movement disagree.

Lega Senator Claudio Borghi stated on X that every line of the report poses a “deadly threat” to Italy, accusing Draghi of wanting to turn Italy into “the next Greece for revenge.”

Pasquale Tridico, head of the Five Star Movement delegation in the European Parliament, directly targeted Draghi. Tridico argued that Draghi’s report represents a form of self-criticism for “condemning the neoliberal policies that underpin the current European structure” and questioned Draghi’s role in key EU decisions, particularly regarding the Stability Pact reforms which Draghi now supports but which Tridico argues are inconsistent with the large-scale investments in innovation and green transition.