The commercial war launched by Donald Trump is determining, as an inevitable consequence, the approach of the European Union to China. A first step, in this sense, could be the revocation of the sanctions issued by Beijing against several members of the European Parliament in 2021.
Beijing’s attempt to approach Brussels after the Trump duties war
Why revoke sanctions now? The answer comes by looking at the international context, made more heated after the war of the duties. The hope, mainly nourished by the second world power, is to relaunch the investment agreement between the European Union and China (Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, CAI), frozen by Brussels when it was a few steps from the ratification. A spokesman for the president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola confirmed the news, originally reported by the aforementioned Zeitung, stating that the discussions with the Chinese authorities are in the final stages. The president will first inform the group leaders as soon as the Chinese authorities officially confirm the revocation of the sanctions.
The retaliation that China would like to raise have been adopted in response to the measures that the EU has imposed against some Chinese entities due to the violations of human rights against the Uigura Muslim minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
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It has always been the intention of the European Parliament to revoke sanctions and resume relations with China and the current commitment of Beijing seems to support Brussels’ desires at a time when the economy of the second world power risks a serious blow for the US duties of 145 percent. If the agreement is successful, five MEPs inserted in the black list will again be able to set foot in China: these are Reinhard Butikofer, exponent of the German green and former leader of the parliamentary delegation for China, who in the meantime left Parliament; MICHAEL GAHLER and Miriam Lexmann, center-right politicians from Germany and Slovakia, French socialist Raphael Glucksmann and Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Liberal Bulgara.
What is the investment agreement China-EU
China hopes that the revocation of sanctions will open the way to the resumption of comprehensive agreement on investment with the European Union. The goal, explain the officials, is to send a clear cooperation signal between Beijing and Brussels, in an international context marked by growing commercial tensions, aggravated by the war of duties triggered by the Trump administration. However, high officials of the European Commission define the now anachronistic agreement and, in recent internal interviews, have rejected the hypothesis of its recovery in the current form. Despite this, any opening signals could feed the expectations of a relaxation in the relations between Brussels and Beijing, in view of the bilateral summit scheduled in July in the Chinese capital.
The EU has signed an agreement with China on investments, that’s what it consists of
The investment agreement between the European Union and China was discussed during seven years of intense negotiations and, if it had been ratified, would have marked a significant change in rigid Chinese regulations on foreign companies. Among the key points of the intended, the possible elimination of the obligation for European companies to operate in China through joint venture with local partners stands out, a measure that Beijing has historically used to maintain control on the internal market.
The CAI would therefore open an era in which the Asian giant would guarantee “reciprocity” for foreign investments, responding to a request made for some time by European governments. However, the agreement has not received the green disc of some European countries. Wanted strongly from France and Germany, the CAI was opposed by the Eastern Europe countries, closer to the USA with an anti -Russian function. There are those who then raised doubts about the “sale” of the values of the European Union, as a series of clauses on labor law and against forced work. But as often happens when it comes to business, workers’ rights and human rights in general, they end up in the background.
