EU President-in-Office and German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks at the Europe-China Vision Summit with Xi Jinping.
Despite human rights friction and sanctions between Europe and China, German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to view the EU-China investment deal positively and German businesses hope for a deal, according to Munich’s Mercury newspaper. But the deal is in danger of failing in the EU parliament. Opposition is growing in political circles.
The European Commission and the Chinese government have signed the EU-China investment agreement, but the agreement still needs to be approved by the EU Parliament. This hurdle is not easy to pass at the moment. This week, several EU lawmakers said they would not vote to approve the EU-China investment agreement as long as China continues to ban five EU lawmakers from entering the country.
Skepticism about the agreement is also growing in the German Federal Parliament. The question now is whether the much-discussed EU-China investment agreement is still relevant in light of the current situation. The debate over the agreement has now become less about specific issues and more about geopolitical issues. Merkel, however, continues to be positive about the agreement, arguing that it will bring more transparency and legal security to bilateral relations. It is unclear what Premier Li Keqiang said on the topic at the German-Chinese government consultation meeting.
German companies also expect the agreement to force China to further open its markets and to treat them equally with local companies in China.
But the sanctions conflict over human rights in Xinjiang has put the agreement on hold in the EU Parliament. It is now hard to imagine that the EU Parliament would approve the agreement with some of its members under sanctions for entry into the country by the Chinese Communist Party. In turn, it is unlikely that the CCP will withdraw its counter-sanctions against the EU under pressure. At the moment, the two sides do not even intend to engage in a dialogue on lifting the sanctions. Therefore, the EU-China investment agreement may not even be on the agenda of the EU Parliament in the near future. The European Commission is currently working on a law to protect European companies from being swallowed up by foreign companies subsidized by the state. The chilly atmosphere in Europe and China will obviously continue. This will make the EU-China investment agreement even worse and more difficult to be born.
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