The European Parliament adopted by 458 votes to 51 with 124 abstentions the own-initiative report by Jan Zahradil (ECR, Czech Republic) on the Indo-Pacific trade and investment strategy, on Tuesday 5 July. For the MEPs, it is essential to strengthen the links between the EU and the countries of this region that share the same values.
This includes the rapid conclusion of free trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, India (see other news) and, in the longer term, Indonesia. Negotiations with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines are suspended for the time being.
MEPs also call on the Commission to strengthen links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including a connectivity partnership with ASEAN.
The black spot in the Indo-Pacific region is China, with which “the Union must engage in a deep dialogue, firmly defending the Union's interests and values”, the European Parliament claims. Chinese coercive practices towards the EU are clearly mentioned in Jan Zahradil’s report. MEPs state that “China’s continued delay in complying with all WTO rules continues to complicate trade relations between the EU and China”.
MEPs call for closer ties between the EU and Taiwan, including cooperation on green technologies and the digital economy. They call on the Commission to begin an impact assessment, public consultation and scoping exercise on a bilateral investment agreement between the EU and Taiwan. On 2 June, the European Commission re-launched a modernised trade and investment dialogue with Taiwan (see EUROPE 12964/18).
On 7 June, MEPs had already adopted an own-initiative report on security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, in which they called for links with democracies in the region (see EUROPE 12966/7).
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/2h9 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)