Brussels, 17/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - Negotiations on a new Sino-European Partnership and Cooperation framework agreement (PCA) have officially begun. In Beijing on Wednesday, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing held a first round of talks aimed at modernising the framework governing political and trade relations between the EU and China. The new framework agreement, which will in future govern all bilateral relations, bringing together no fewer than 22 sectoral cooperation agreements, will replace the old cooperation and trade agreement which had been in place since 1985. In addition to the sections on political relations and trade and investment, the PCA will provide a framework for cooperation in energy, the environment, agriculture, transport, customs, education, the information society, science and technology, and space cooperation. It will also cover migration and international challenges, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, without forgetting sustainable development and climate change.
Persuading Beijing to join the fight against carbon emissions
Strengthening the Sino-European partnership on combating climate change is indeed a priority objective in Ms Ferrero-Waldner's visit to China. Energy and environmental cooperation with China is of great importance to the EU: “The issues of energy security and climate change will not be resolved without the support of China”, said the Commission in its strategy published in October (see EUROPE 9293). Over the course of her trip and at the first session of PCA negotiations, Ms Ferrero-Waldner will seek to persuade her interlocutors to join the European initiative to improve energy efficiency, reduce the use of oil and gas, develop clean coal technology and, finally, reduce Chinese greenhouse gas emissions. Wary of maintaining the dynamism and sustainability of the Chinese economy which is a huge consumer of hydrocarbons, the Beijing authorities are reluctant to adopt binding objectives on limiting emissions, using two weighty arguments: the extent of the country's development, where a large part of the population still lives below the poverty threshold, and the still teetering technological development which does not allow businesses and industry to be subject to carbon restrictions. By ratifying the Kyoto Protocol as a developing country, China did not undertake to make any quantified reduction in its emissions, fearing that any effort in this direction would hinder its economic growth. Persuading Beijing to join the efforts of the developed countries in the framework of a global binding agreement is, therefore, a massive challenge for the Union which could, if the European Council agrees in March, make a unilateral commitment to a target of a minimum 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Strategic partnerships
On the whole, the APC gives rise to considerable hope. There is no need to recall what is at stake at trade level: - the Union is the largest trading partner of China which is itself the second largest exporter to the Community market. By negotiating a new framework agreement governing their bilateral relations, Europeans and Chinese look much further into the future. “The Union and China are two of the largest emerging powers in the world. China is changing before our eyes and the Union is also continuing to grow. We therefore need to change the bases for our cooperation”, Ms Ferrero-Waldner said before a first round of the table on Wednesday. “Twenty years ago, we were trading partners. Now we are strategic partners with a vast field of cooperation”, she stressed. The External Relations Commissioner pointed out that it could take up to two years to conclude the discussions begun on Wednesday. But no deadline has been set. “We have common positions on many subjects and we have very good prospects for greater development of our relations that will bring tangible benefits to both sides and to our peoples”, Mr Li said, calling, moreover, for the European arms embargo on Beijing since 1989 to be lifted. Ms Ferrero-Waldner promised to include the thorny matter of human rights in China in discussions.
Adding another block on which to build, Europeans and Chinese approved, on Wednesday, the creation of a common law university aimed at improving understanding of their respective legal systems. They also announced the setting in place of projects aimed at strengthening the links between them, including a programme for training Chinese managers. The Union's contribution to all these projects should amount to €37.2 million. (eh)