This paper compares the international position of the EU and China with reference to the global post-crisis reform agenda. The global financial and economic crisis unveiled the existence of a credibility gap between these two international actors, with Europe finding itself in the uncomfortable position as the weaker party. Nevertheless, the EU is called upon to give a substantial contribution to the setting of new global governance structures for trade, international financial institutions and finanical regulation. The challenge now is whether the EU chooses to act as a subsystem of an emerging G2 or build upon its experience of decades of international integration to develop a new model of global governance based on solidarity and sustainability.

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