Strasbourg, 17/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Union is expected to deepen its trade relations with China, whilst striving to ensure respect for it own fundamental values.
This is the substance of a nonlegislative European Parliament resolution adopted on Wednesday 16 December at the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the EU and the People's Republic of China. MEPs, however, have not reached a position on whether to grant China the status of a market economy, which would enable the latter to protect itself from EU anti-dumping action.
The report was prepared by Bastiaan Belder (ECR, the Netherlands) and outlines a variety of very different themes, such as the bilateral investment agreement currently being negotiated, the multiple meetings taking place between the two parties, respect for human rights, as well as China's domestic and external policy. Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White (EPP, Spain) acknowledged during the debate on the day preceding the vote that, “China is a strategic partner and key actor on the global stage. It will become the world's number one power”.
Chinese investments in the firing line. MEPs are delighted with China's willingness to take part in the Juncker plan to simulate investment in Europe. They assert that these copious investments (between €5-10 billion) could be oriented towards the development of connections between the railways, ports and airports. Nonetheless, they are careful to add that the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), the main tool in the Juncker plan, should remain, “under European Union governance” even though the size of these investments from China have just outgrown those made by the member states. In this context, the resolution urges the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, and the European Commission to think carefully about the effects of China's global investment policy, as well as its investment activities in the European Union and its neighbouring countries in the East.
Sources of concern. MEPs point out that a partnership with China should be developed in respect of the EU's fundamental values. In this context, they are calling for the bilateral investment agreements, particularly the one that has been in negotiations since 2014 with China, to contain a chapter on sustainable development. They call for “binding commitments on the fundamental International Labour Organisation employment standards and the main multilateral agreements on the environment”. The report also raises the question of dumping practices and the lack of transparency with regard to Chinese government policies and subsidies through the use of tax credits, land concessions and reduced rates for loans in the area of subsidised raw materials. The EP in this context is calling for “a level playing field for companies in Europe and in China”.
MEPs have identified a significant number of areas where discrimination is practised in the country: restrictions on the freedom of expression, association, meeting and religion. They call on the European External Action Service (EEAS) to ensure that human rights are included among the priorities on the agenda for relations and dialogue with China.
More European coordination. Overall, the resolution calls for greater European coordination. It urges the member states to consult each other more, particularly with regard to the hard diplomatic line currently taken by China and “its willingness to redesign the architecture of global governance”. This illusion is in reference to the cooperation recently set up between China and Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, via the “group of 16+1”. The European Parliament has also asked that it be more involved in the work of the EU in this connection and has called on the EEAS and the Commission to present it with an annual report on the progress made in relations between the two sides.
China's status meets wall of silence. Confounding all expectations, the report does not take a position on whether to grant China the status of a market economy within the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It should be pointed out that the country has been considered as a nonmarket economy since it joined the WTO in 2001. This status means that it receives higher fines than if it were a market economy. Following the adoption of the report by Bastiaan Belder, the S&D group has said that any modification of the status of the Chinese economy would be “premature”. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)