If a small country does not have something very special it can trade with very many other countries, it will be dependent on bigger countries and trading blocks nearby.
You can lower that economical dependency at the expense of domestic prosperity, which I consider a valid choice if the structural gap does not become too big. That is like personal choices on the balance between more social life or more money career.
But in practice, in order to keep that prosperity gap acceptable, you have to accept a lot of dependencies, and the real choice is more
"which set of dependencies".
When Greece was suffering from EU austerity, the EU (and the US as well) did choose NOT to invest themselves in Greek infrastructure at a special high rate. And although recognising that it would make Greece vulnerable for foreign money of Russia, buying political influence into the EU by the EU veto system, it was China who won the price, by investing into the harbor of Athens, to make Athens a Dragon Head of the Belt & Road initiative.
Ofc the raw capitalism of China, which they do apply abroad protecting their investments, was met by union actions etc, put the Greek government in turmoil, the money was too welcome, and when the smoke was blown away, Greece had made a full and dedicated, almost irreversible choice to be dependent on China besides the EU. Take note that the Greek very big merchant fleet, very important for the trade balance, is transporting a lot of Chineses goods. So in a sense Greek had not that much of a choice.
So we end up with Greece getting a similar special benefit as the small countries Belgium and The Netherlands, with their harbors, have since decades: they become a port, a logistic hub for lots of trade of the EU.
This will in the long term generate lots of economy for Greece.
And by the principle that nothing is for free, it has bought China a possibility to veto vote in the EU.
And whatever the political constellation of Greece, and however clever Greece will broom that influence under the carpet, that Chinese dependency is now part of the set of dependencies chosen by Greece (as long as the Suez Canal functions).
Is it as such wrong ? I think not. The EU wants to trade with China, and Greece needs someting economical special besides her merchant fleet and tourism. This trade hub an incubation zone for all kinds of new businesses. The way China will try hard capitalism, the normal domestic left-right battle. Whereby noted that EU labor protection regulations do give Greece some backing. And also noted that a Greece outside the EU and Euro would be of less value to the Chinese.
From the NYT from July 2017:
Last summer, Greece helped stop the European Union from issuing a unified statement against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. This June, Athens prevented the bloc from condemning China’s human rights record. Days later it opposed tougher screening of Chinese investments in Europe.
E.U. officials are concerned that China is buying silence on human rights issues and undermining the bloc’s ability to speak with one voice. Analysts say China targets smaller countries in need of cash, among them Spain, Portugal and others that suffered in the financial crisis. Hungary, where China is pledging to spend billions on a railway, also blocked the E.U. statement on the South China Sea.
Many analysts have noted that Greece’s human rights veto came as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras returned from a summit meeting in Beijing in May, where he signed billions of euros’ worth of new investment memorandums with Chinese companies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/26/world/europe/greece-china-piraeus-alexis-tsipras.html
Back on topic.
I think the consensus way the EU handled decisisions, with the veto system forcing to get a very broad consensus, was ok enough in a global order where other big powers left the EU on her own.
In todays world, where economical growth of the EU, wrapped up with liberal humanitarian values, is seen as a competitor that needs to be driven down, the veto system is for the EU an Achilles heel.
Something needs to be done... something will be done.
