Brussels, 18/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - In an opinion adopted on Thursday 14 July, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) warned against granting China market economy status (MES) and called on the European institutions to promote fairer international competition and actively protect Europeans' jobs with the support of effective trade defence instruments.
In its opinion prepared by Andrés Barcelo (group 1 employers, Spain) and Gerald Kreuzer (group II workers, Austria), the EESC highlighted the fact that granting MES to China could possibly have disastrous consequences on industry and jobs in Europe. It also underlined China's need to respect the five criteria defined by the EU for obtaining the MES.
Andrés Barceló added that "Europe's industry needs a level playing field and it is the EU's responsibility to ensure it by providing the necessary trade defence instruments". He also said that "Granting unconditional market economy status to China would seriously jeopardise Europe's industry, kill off jobs and damage SME's local production."
The EESC emphasised that in addition to steel, the industries which would particularly be affected are aluminium, bicycles, ceramics, glass, motor vehicle parts and paper.
The EESC is also concerned about the impact of granting MES to China on innovation and subsequently on Europe's competitiveness. Mr Kreuzer warned "The whole industrial value chain would be imperilled and Europe would risk losing countless jobs, including highly specialised jobs. Our competitiveness would be at stake, as only a strong industry is able to invest in research and development".
The EESC's position is therefore "unambiguous": "As long as China does not meet the EU five criteria it does not qualify as a market economy", underlined both rapporteurs. In the meantime, the EESC advises the Commission to use a non-standard methodology in anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese imports under the China WTO Accession Protocol. It also calls for a simplified approach for those sectors where SME participation is relevant in order to allow them to participate in antidumping files.
Granting MES to China would also be a serious setback for Europe's ambitions for sustainable development and fight against climate change, explained the EESC.
The EESC also announced that it would be launching a project that specifically focuses on the follow-up of MES to China, on behalf of the civil society. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)