EU Foreign Ministers will have an exchange of views, again by videoconference, on Friday 29 May, with China as the main topic for discussion.
In view of the current events, the EU Council is expected to look into the situation in Hong Kong. As expected, on Thursday 28 May, the Chinese Parliament adopted almost unanimously the draft law on national security in Hong Kong (see EUROPE 12492/19).
Before the United Nations Security Council, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed his “deep concern” about this measure, which is “neither in line with (China’s) international commitments, nor with the basic law of Hong Kong”.
According to a European source, Ministers are therefore expected to discuss the potential European reaction to the latest developments.
More generally, Europeans are expected to review their relations with China ahead of two summits, one scheduled for June and the other for September, under Germany’s EU Council Presidency, with Germany making the EU’s relations with Beijing a priority (see other news).
While the EU adopted a strategy towards China in March 2019, which remains largely current, according to a European source, the situation has since evolved and will have to be the subject of ministerial discussions (see EUROPE 12212/20). “We need to discuss among ourselves how this huge relationship should be addressed”, our source added.
The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the world economy also served as a reminder of the world economy’s dependence on Beijing. European efforts to rebalance the economic relationship and to conclude a comprehensive investment agreement in 2020 have come to a standstill (see EUROPE 12437/11). Beijing shows just enough evidence of willingness to keep the EU engaged, round after round, with some 30 meetings on the agenda (see EUROPE 12475/14). But scepticism is growing in Brussels. The EU is therefore considering different ways to rebalance this relationship and reduce its dependence on the ‘factory of the world’ that is China (see EUROPE 12482/22, 12441/12, 12437/11).
Ministers will also discuss the health, but also economic and potentially geopolitical consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Asia/Pacific region, as they did 2 weeks ago in the Mediterranean region.
Finally, the High Representative will return to the situation in Afghanistan. While the agreement on the formation of an inclusive government (see EUROPE 12489/22) and the truce reached for Eid (see EUROPE 12492/29) are positive signs, the peace process is still at a standstill (see EUROPE 12494/21). In parallel with the Council, conclusions should be adopted on the EU position on Afghanistan. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Hermine Donceel)