TheInternational Association of Technicians, Experts and Researchers (Aitec) and Attac France published, on 7 April, a 50-page report deciphering the EU-China Investment Agreement (CAI).
The two associations state that the agreement offers “no serious economic benefits” and commits China only marginally. “Beijing and Brussels have, above all, agreed to record in a bilateral agreement a set of existing commitments, whether multilateral, via the WTO agreements, or unilateral, particularly for China”, they explain.
They also point to China’s lack of binding commitments on human rights. “This agreement shows that nothing can prevent Brussels from trying to have privileged economic relations with Beijing, even if it means relegating all concerns about forced labour, human rights or the duty of care of large companies to the background”, said Maxime Combes, co-author of the report.
See the report in French: https://bit.ly/3uybT2N (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)