The European Union should not translate its economic difficulties into protectionist policies by looking for "unnecessary fights" with China as it slowly repairs its own economy, a former EU trade commissioner has warned.

Such "bad trade policies or habits" would not be good for Europe in the short term and would also risk damaging the long-term relationship between two of the world's biggest traders, former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson told China Daily.

Mandelson's comments came as the latest statistics showed China's trade with the debt-ridden EU slipped 3.7 percent year-on-year to $546 billion in 2012, the first annual drop in the three years since the onset of the global financial crisis.