Cooperation with China on a number of global challenges is essential, said participants in a webinar organised by the employers’ federation BusinessEurope on Tuesday 20 September. The question that has been nagging at Europeans for several years, however, is how to cooperate with Beijing, which has been described as a systemic rival.
Reinhard Bütikofer (Greens/EFA, German) said that the EU must “engage” with China in order to hope to “cooperate” with it in the future. To do this, the EU must first develop “its own forces” in order to gain respect from the Chinese, who “respect force”, according to Mr Bütikofer. This requires increased cooperation with other important partners.
He encouraged close links not only with partners such as the United States and Japan, but also India. This, he said, would require some compromises: the EU would have to accept less ambitious trade agreements on sustainability with some partners. And using the example of India, which is negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU: “From a geopolitical point of view, it is maybe a better option to go with an FTA that is not comprehensive, but enhances cohesion between our economies and that has the benefit of a geopolitical closeness.”
The deputy director of BusinessEurope, Luisa Santos, agreed. “Businesses are ready for more limited FTAs with certain partners. Let's hope the politicians are, too,” she said.
This analysis is in line with that of the European Commission in its new trade policy seeking to diversify its partners. The European Commission’s new approach to sustainable development in trade provides for more demanding obligations in this area (see EUROPE 12977/13), but also for ‘tailoring’ to partners.
Agreement with Indonesia hoped for by 2024
For a year now, the European Commission, as well as the European Parliament and the Member States, have been seeking to strengthen their presence and partnerships, in particular in the Indo-Pacific region (see EUROPE 12792/1, 12986/11). In line with this, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis announced on 20 September that he hoped to conclude an FTA with Indonesia by 2024. Negotiations between the EU and Jakarta started in 2016, but have made little progress since.
The two countries are still currently involved in two ongoing disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO). (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)