“Currently China is not at the centre of the radar,” said Lamy, the honorary president of the Paris-based think tank Notre Europe–Jacques Delors Institute.

Speaking at the launch of a new report on the EU’s external action, compiled by 16 European think tanks, Lamy stressed that 90% of European growth in the next 10 years will originate outside Europe, with one-third of it originating in China alone.

When it comes to European matters, election campaigns rarely provide a stage for level-headed discussion among politicians struggling for voters’ attention.

And Germany’s September election is unlikely to prove an exception to the rule.

“I think the question of Europe and its transformation will be part of the election campaign because there are different views on it,” Aiginger said in an interview with EurActiv.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said in a statement that he and fellow commissioners had agreed "in principle" to open an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy case, but would first seek to negotiate a solution with Chinese authorities.

After 18 years of membership in OECD, the Czech Republic has completed its transformation from being a recipient to becoming a donor of development aid.

The Czech Republic becomes the 26th member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), nations which together provide as much as 95 % of total global development aid.

Although renovation rates in Europe are low – at around 1% of total building stock – anecdotal evidence appears to suggest a pick-up in the energy efficient housing market.

“The pressure we are seeing from regulation on real estate markets is now affecting the financial model that we’re using,” she told EurActiv.

“Investors sense and feel that the regulations and requests on standards for buildings refurbishment, rebuilding and upkeep will impact the long-term value of their real estate.”

Though the revolt was defeated, it could undermine Cameron's leadership, as scores of his own party's lawmakers took the highly unusual step of voting to criticise his government's legislative plans, a week after they were first put before Parliament.

The rebels are angry that the government's policy proposals did not include steps to make Cameron's promise of a referendum on Britain's EU membership legally binding.