Following on from discussions between EU leaders last month (see EUROPE 13892/4), European Commission officials met with the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) on Tuesday 14 July to take stock of the economic dialogue between the European Union and China.
Denis Redonnet, Deputy Director-General at the Directorate-General for Trade (DG TRADE), first returned to the topic of the ‘Trade and Investment Consultations’ (TIC) launched at the end of June (see EUROPE 13898/5).
MEP Jörgen Warborn (EPP, Swedish) and the Chair of the INTA committee, Bernd Lange (S&D, German), both asked for clarification regarding the European Parliament’s involvement in this dialogue. The European Commission representative agreed that the European Parliament does indeed have scrutiny powers over trade measures.
Denis Redonnet then set out the timetable for the discussions: “Commissioner Šefčovič wants to report back to you. He has committed to returning to your committee once the consultations at ministerial level have progressed. After October, we will be able to take initial stock in order to assess the results”, he assured them, adding that the discussions would continue in the coming weeks. “In mid-August, I will take stock with my counterpart at deputy minister level. Then, depending on the progress of the discussions, I may travel to Beijing at the beginning of September”, the senior official said.
The discussions also focused on the structural economic imbalances observed between the Old Continent and China. “One of Beijing’s commitments at the last meeting on 29 June was to encourage Chinese households to buy more European products. However, China’s 15th five-year plan, adopted in March, does not seem to be moving in that direction. On the contrary, it is based on an intensification of industrial policy, exports and economic self-sufficiency”, said Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez (EPP, Spanish), underlining the issue.
The European Commission representative acknowledged that “dialogue alone is not enough”, and that the European Union should provide elements of structural responses. However, this rebalancing will not take place by the October European Council, he warned, also noting that triggering safeguard measures requires a qualified majority and therefore a certain degree of solidarity between Member States. (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)