On the evening of Wednesday, 3 June, German federal government spokesperson Steffen Seibert announced the postponement of the EU-China Summit, originally scheduled for 14 September in Leipzig (see EUROPE 12496/2).
While emphasising the importance of the meeting, Mr Seibert explained in a statement that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Charles Michel, and Chinese President Xi Jinping “agreed that the meeting cannot take place at the envisaged time given the pandemic but should be rescheduled”. Earlier that day, Mrs Merkel had spoken separately with Mr Michel and Mr Xi.
During a videoconference organised by the EPC on 4 June, Germany’s Permanent Representative Michael Clauss stated that this “unfortunate” postponement was “exclusively” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the moment, no new date has been set for this summit, which was to bring together the leaders of China and the 27 EU Member States for the very first time. “The details should be agreed soon,” specified the spokesperson for the German federal government.
In addition, European External Action Service spokesperson Virginie Battu stated on Thursday, 4 June, that the EU was currently working with the Chinese authorities to set a date for a bilateral EU-China summit that would be limited, on the European side, to the European Council president, the European Commission president, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. “Preparations continue from that point of view”, she said. Such a summit could be held in June. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)