During the plenary session (25-28 March 2019) in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2019 on Trade and EU-China relations. Statements by Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, Jean-Claude JUNCKER, President of the EC, Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE) and Udo BULLMANN (S&D, DE).

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2019: extracts from the debate on Trade and EU-China relations

SOUNDBITE (English), Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, We also discussed our economic relations with China. We both have a key economic interest in maintaining significant trade flows, which are possible thanks to the rules based trading system. However, for this system to continue to operate, it needs to be quickly updated. For the EU this means serious reform of the WTO, that to cover industrial subsidies as a priority. We wants to persuade China to address this and I am convinced we shouldn't give up.

SOUNDBITE (French), Jean-Claude JUNCKER, President of the EC, We want to be very clear with China. We want everybody in China and in Europe to understand that we are partners, strategic partners indeed, the world competitors and rivals. In certain discussions I noted that our Chinese friends don't like the word 'rival' but ultimately it's a compliment. We're rivals and competitors. That means that we need to ensure that Europe doesn't just hand things over but rather that we are open. That immediately means the right for European companies to compete in fair conditions in China, just as Chinese companies can freely compete in Europe and come to Europe. We respect China. We would like China to respect us. So we need an approach to trade that is based on reciprocity and full reciprocity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), The cooperation of China must be based on principles and values and what we believe in. There is a competition going on, on the political systems, on the way how we think a society, how we organize our society, what are the basic values of a society. And that's why that must always be the start for our dialogue with China.

SOUNDBITE (English), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), We shouldn't be naive. And that means to protect our industry to protect our key industry to define and to protect our key industry in the European Union. We also think as a EPP that we have to rethink our competition law in today's European Union for establishing for the future kind of European champions to adapt the global dimension of competition in our legislation is also a key issue.

SOUNDBITE (German), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), I would hope that we can take further steps. We are seeing that Article 7 is not affected. It does not lead to rapid results. So what I would like to see is us taking the next step to introduce a binding rule of law mechanism in the European Union. As this house has previously proposed - many colleagues been working on this - that we have a binding mechanism that we ensure independence of assessment. Perhaps we could have annual reports on the matter and we need to ensure that it is not only Central and Eastern European states but that the entire European Union is assessed in terms of its respect of fundamental rights. So we essentially need an automatic procedure where these cases are put before the European Court of Justice. So I would propose setting up a mechanism that ensures that in future this process works and also the requisite funding to ensure that this can be successful.

SOUNDBITE (German), Udo BULLMANN (S&amp;D, DE), Only when we're aware , when we're aware of this particular situation, when we're strong, in other words, we'll be able to deal with issues such as trade with China. It is indeed a very, very strong partner that we simply cannot overlook and we cannot ignore. But without having that sense of self confidence and awareness and of the success and trust in the European model, will we be able to be able to have proper negotiations with trade partners of that particular nature and be able to move forward positively.

Evenemangsdatum	2019-03-27
Reference:	I170383V
Format:	16:9 format
Copyright:	© European Union
Copyright year:	2019

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2019: extracts from the debate on Trade and EU-China relations

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