Brussels, 13/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - At the end of the EU-China summit in Beijing on Wednesday 13 July, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stated that the EU and China have agreed to set up a joint working group on steel in order to monitor overcapacity and check the measures taken by China to address this.
It is “a kind of steel platform between China and the European Union to keep alive the debates and the discussion we have and monitor decisions related to steel overproduction”, Juncker said. During the summit he had reiterated the EU's “serious concerns” about China's overcapacity in steel production, and had called for the application of market rules in order to resolve this problem in China.
As regards the EU granting China market economy status, Juncker promised the EU would adhere to its international obligations, and said the EU is producing an impact assessment looking at the consequences for each EU member state. He said that the European Commission would take a decision following this impact assessment. The college of commissioners will debate this issue on 20 July, Juncker added.
Speaking at the EU-China Business Summit, Juncker urged China to remove its barriers to trade, to accelerate its state enterprise reforms and to ensure better legal security for foreign companies on the Chinese market. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)