On Wednesday 13 December in Strasbourg, MEPs approved the report by Hilde Vautmans (Renew Europe, Belgian) on EU-China relations, with a large majority of 529 votes in favour, 47 against and 40 abstentions.
Presented the evening before during a debate in the Chamber in the presence of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the text aims to adopt a unified European approach to defining relations with China and to return to the principle of ‘de-risking’, which has been repeated on many occasions by European leaders, including at the recent EU-China Summit in Beijing (see EUROPE 13309/21).
“This recommendation is in line with the report on China adopted 2 years ago. It was already a strong report, but the world has changed and our relationship with China has evolved. It is an important trading partner, but increasingly also an economic rival and a systemic competitor to Europe”, explained Ms Vautmans.
The report looks at trade and economic relations, taking into account the trade deficit between the EU and China, which will amount to €400 billion in 2022.
“This imbalance is not sustainable”, said Mr Borrell. “We are asking China to tackle the causes of this imbalance (...) Either (it) opens up its economy, or we have to close ours”.
However, the report addresses not only trade relations with China, but also global challenges and the issue of human rights violations, such as the oppression of the Muslim Uyghur minority, the situation in Tibet, Hong Kong and Macao (see EUROPE 13299/21) and the attempt to change the status quo with Taiwan.
The report also calls on China to stop supporting Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and helping Moscow to circumvent EU sanctions.
“We must not be naive. Russia’s energy blackmail has shown us that countries that do not share our values use our dependence against us. It is vital that we speak with one voice to China”, continued Ms Vautmans.
Mr Borrell went on to point out that China burns more coal than the rest of the world combined, and that 90% of new coal plants are being built in China, arguing that “to solve the climate change issue, we need China. Without it, we won’t achieve anything”.
The head of European diplomacy called for these discussions with parliamentarians to be resumed in the future, saying that the debate did not “fully illustrate the complexity of EU-China relations”, and questioned the European Parliament’s agenda, since the debate began at around 10pm. He said he was ready to discuss the matter “at a more appropriate time”.
To see the report: https://aeur.eu/f/a4j (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)