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They negotiated this agreement for seven years. It can be understood that Europeans like the Chinese were in a hurry in the end. The contradictions the contract is now supposed to resolve were grotesque: While Chinese companies in Europe have spent years investing in virtually every industry, including buying airports and electricity providers, many sectors in China have remained closed to Europeans. And yet there will be a stale aftertaste if Brussels and Beijing now agree to a comprehensive investment protection deal.
On Wednesday, China’s head of state Xi Jinping, the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the Council, Charles Michel, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, sealed their agreement in a videoconference.
For Europe, the advantages of the agreement are obvious: European companies should in future have as good market access in China as Chinese in Europe. Competition should be fairer and a level playing field should be established, as is the well-known catchphrase of the Brexit negotiations. In addition, more sustainable environmental and social standards should apply to businesses on both sides.
China’s economic advantages are not immediately obvious, but politically they outweigh even more: Beijing secures a major economic deal with the EU, three weeks before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office. It is especially at this time that the agreement is so controversial. Originally, the contract was supposed to be announced in September at an EU-China summit to which the German Presidency of the Council had invited Leipzig. But this summit was downgraded to a video conference due to the crown crisis; furthermore, the conversations stalled then, as so many times before. It wasn’t until shortly before Christmas that the negotiations suddenly began to move. China was now making concessions that Europe had long insisted on in vain. Beijing wanted to finish the matter before the end of the year; also the Presidency of the German Council which ends on December 31st.
What’s the rush?
The new US administration is critical of this rush. Last week, Jake Sullivan, the president-elect’s national security adviser, tweeted: “The Biden Harris administration would welcome early consultations with our European partners on our shared concerns about China’s economic practices.”
On Tuesday, Joe Biden added that the position would be much stronger “if we form coalitions of like-minded partners and allies.”
US concerns have apparently failed to impress either Brussels or Berlin, overshadowing future economic cooperation with Washington. In any case, Beijing need not fear the European-American unity towards China that was evoked after Biden’s electoral victory.
Supporters of the China Agreement like Jörg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, oppose: »I don’t see any relevance to the United States. They have their phase 1 contract (with which the United States and China defused their trade war in January, Editor’s note) concluded without consulting the EU. “The EU-China agreement does not worsen the position of US companies, unlike the US-China treaty, which” has met with many of China’s trading partners. “The investment protection agreement with China should not understood as an affront to the new, but rather as a consequence of the selfish trade policy of the outgoing US government, says a European diplomat.
Agreement despite numerous repressions from Beijing
That doesn’t change the political side of the deal. A comprehensive economic contract with China? This last point is the main point of criticism. When it comes to forced labor, according to Green MEP Reinhard Bütikofer, the EU has been satisfied with “superficial service”. China is said to have promised “permanent and sustainable efforts.” He does not understand why “this agreement should be carried out now with maximum year-end bustle,” Bütikofer said.
In Beijing, with the approval of President Xi Jinping, the deal is practically settled. “Who has something against Chinese money?” Asked a user calling herself “Harper Mama” on Weibo’s short message service. Another user wrote: »Win-win cooperation. Let’s get rich together! In Brussels, it is said, none of the EU ambassadors raised objections. The European Parliament has yet to approve the agreement.
