The European Commission said today that its campaign for ratification of the EU-China investment agreement has effectively been “suspended” due to the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the EU and China as a result of mutual sanctions.
Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission, told AFP during a visit: “We have now suspended in a sense the political engagement of the European Commission.”
“What is clear is that the EU and China have sanctioned each other, including Chinese sanctions against MEPs, and the current situation is not conducive to the ratification of this agreement.”
The European Union (EU) sanctioned four Chinese officials in March for persecution of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang, and China then imposed retaliatory sanctions on European politicians, academics and research institutions.
China’s sanctions against Europe on such a large scale are unprecedented in European-Chinese relations, especially since they include a number of elected members of the European Parliament, causing outrage in the European political arena.
Dombrovskis noted that the push for ratification of the agreement “will depend on how extensive the EU-China relationship can evolve.
The EU and China completed negotiations on the investment agreement late last year, but the agreement still needs to be ratified by the 27 member states and the European Parliament before it can enter into force.
Dombrovskis is leading the ratification process for the agreement, although it has been resisted by some leading MEPs.
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