“There are very strong points of convergence on the anti-coercion tool”, said the French Trade Minister, Franck Riester, on Monday 14 February in Marseille, during an informal meeting with his European counterparts. During this meeting, the ministers reiterated their support for the instrument under discussion in the European Parliament and in the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12849/1).
However, some have expressed their concerns about this legislative proposal. “Sweden has a lot of question marks regarding that instrument”, said the Swedish Trade Minister, Anna Hallberg. And to add: “If you introduce sch an instrument, it's burdening the trade policy. So we have a lot of question marks”.
For the new Dutch minister, Liesje Schreinemacher, who until recently was a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, particular attention must also be paid to the role of the Member States in putting this tool into practice. “We have questions concerning in what way a Member State will be involved when it comes to taking countermeasures (as) this can have grave consequences for individual Member States. It should work as a deterrent”, she told EUROPE.
The European Commission and the EU Council are in any case keen to move ahead quickly. In particular, the future instrument could respond to situations of coercion, as is currently the case with China towards Lithuania.
China
The ministers had a very brief exchange of views on the subject and heard a report from the Lithuanian deputy minister. The Commission initiated a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement procedure (see EUROPE 12878/4) after China began blocking the import of Lithuanian or European products with Lithuanian components.
For all Member States, the priority is dialogue with China. The latter has 60 days to engage in consultations and try to find a solution to the dispute, before the EU calls for the opening of a WTO arbitration panel.
“It’s in the hands of Beijing. We hope there will be an amicable solution. It’s in all of our interests to de-escalate and reduce tensions”, said the Lithuanian Deputy Trade Minister, Arnoldas Pranckevičius. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)