The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called on Tuesday 9 June for further efforts to secure agreement between the EU and China on the Comprehensive Investment Agreement and the 2025 Cooperation Agenda.
Stressing that the EU-China strategic dialogue in which he had just participated had provided an opportunity to take stock of progress in the negotiations on the 2025 EU-China Agenda, Mr Borrell said that he had agreed with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the need to make progress in areas where there were still practical disagreements.
“We want our cooperation agenda for 2025 to be mutually satisfactory, and we will engage in discussions to that end”, the High Representative told at a press briefing. He added that the EU wanted a balanced and reciprocal approach in cooperation, whether it be on connectivity, free trade, science or culture.
Mr Borrell was positive, however, hoping that the 2025 agenda could be a “deliverable” from the next EU-China summit, scheduled for the end of the month. In support of this, he explained that both sides had agreed to work constructively and to show flexibility in order to reach agreements on the remaining open issues.
The head of European diplomacy also stressed, in front of the media, the need to speed up work on the investment agreement, while acknowledging that a compromise could not be expected for the summit at the end of June. “In particular, I stressed the importance of reaffirming all the commitments made at the 2019 summit which have not yet been adequately implemented, in particular market access, ensuring a level playing field and reciprocity”, he explained (see EUROPE 12232/7).
The strategic dialogue was also an opportunity for the European side to mention the issue of human rights in China, in particular with regard to the Uighur minority (see EUROPE 12394/22), and the situation in Hong Kong following the adoption of the national security law (see EUROPE 12496/2).
In addition to bilateral relations, Josep Borrell and Wang Yi discussed multilateral issues: international response to the Covid-19 crisis, Libya, Syria, non-proliferation, Iran, the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula, Afghanistan and cooperation on and in Africa. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)