The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit in 2020 brought about dual brunt to Europe. At the beginning of the outbreak，the EU and its member states did not pay enough attention to the virus. This，together with the EU’s governance pitfalls led to the failure of effectively preventing and controlling the pandemic in a timely manner. At the same time，as a result of hurrying to restore economic and social normalcy，European governments cautiously made the tradeoff between lockdown and lifting restrictions. Now，all countries are making every effort to prepare for vaccinating their population，but it remains unknown when the pandemic could be put behind. The pandemic hit the European economy drastically，which experienced the biggest recession since World War II in 2020. The European Central Bank took measures to maintain market stability by implementing a set of policies such as the COVID-19 bond plan. The leaders of 27 EU members finally reached an agreement on the economic recovery plan after difficult negotiations，but the approval of the plan was hampered by the European Parliament，and the member states also had different opinions on the approval of the plan. The United Kingdom finally completed Brexit and realized “self-release”. The impact of Brexit on both Britain and Europe will continue showing up. Facing the complex geopolitical environment and changes in the global strategic landscape，the EU proactively promoted the implementation of open strategic autonomy. China-EU relations became a pilot field for Europe to implement strategic autonomy in 2020. Despite the pandemic，2020 was still a “big year” for China-EU relations with progresses made in many areas.