EU Policy Intelligence and Advocacy (June 2022) Go back »
2022-06-23 | All chapters
Chamber Advocacy
On 29th June, the European Chamber will organise a Farewell Talk with Ambassador Chapuis. Click here to know more.
On 26th May, the European Chamber held its Annual General Meeting. EU Ambassador to China H.E. Nicolas Chapuis delivered keynote speech. European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis sent his greetings via video.
On 24th May, European Chamber President Joerg Wuttke presented the key findings of the European Chamber’s carbon neutrality report to EU Heads of Mission.
Policy Intelligence
EU Policy
On 23rd June, European Parliament adopted its position on three key EU laws that are part of the “Fit for 55 in 2030 package” to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. (European Parliament)
On 21st June, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the corporate sustainability reporting directive, which, among other things, imposes mandatory supply chain due diligence requirements on EU operators (Council press release).
On 14th June, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee adopted an objection to the European Commission’s proposal to include specific nuclear and gas energy activities in the list of environmentally sustainable economic activities covered by the EU Taxonomy (European Parliament press release).
On 9th June, the European Parliament adopted the proposal for an International Procurement Instrument (European Parliament press release).
On 7th June, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached a provisional agreement on a common charger for the EU (European Parliament, European Commission and Council of the EU press releases).
On 7th June, the European Parliament adopted a report on the EU and security challenges in the Indo-Pacific (European Parliament press release and HR/VP Josep Borrell’s speech).
During the European Council on the 30th and 31st May, EU leaders agreed on a new package of sanctions that would include, among other things, a ban on Russian oil (European Council main results).
On 23rd May, the European Commission released a public consultation on a proposal for a regulation to ban products produced, extracted or harvested with forced labor. Stakeholders – including European industry – are welcome to provide feedback on this proposal (European Commission).
China
On 9th June, the European Parliament also passed a resolution on the human rights situation in Xinjiang (European Parliament press release).
On 8th June, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced the nomination of 31 Heads of Delegations of the EU. Jorge Toledo Albiñana has been nominated as Head of the EU Delegation to China. He is currently Ambassador of Spain to Japan. He formerly served as Secretary of State for European Affairs in the Spanish Government.
On 3rd June, in the context of the Foreign Affairs Council EU ministers discussed relations with China (Council conclusions).
On 2nd June, European External Action Service Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific Gunnar Wiegand and Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao held a video call (Chinese MFA read-out).
On 2nd June, the annual EU-Taiwan Trade and Investment Dialogue took place (European Commission read-out).
As part of his trip to Europe, Special Envoy for Europe Ambassador Wu Hongbo met on the week of the 23rd May with representatives from the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Belgian and the Hungarian governments. It has been reported that Ambassador Wu will also visit government representatives from Romania, France, the Czech Republic, Germany, Cyprus, and Italy (Watching China in Europe newsletter).
On 31st May, Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to the German Chancellor Jens Plotner and Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi held a videoconference (Chinese MFA readout).
On 28th May, United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet held a press conference after her visit to China (UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner statement). The outcomes of the Bachelet visit have elicited reactions from government representatives from Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, among others.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s is in China from the 23rd to the 28th May (OHCHR readout). On the 24th, she and Foreign Affairs Minister and State Chancellor Wang Yi met (MFA readout), and on the 25th she had a virtual meeting with President Xi Jinping (MFA readout).
On 24th May, Chinese special representative for Europe Wu Hongbo met with representatives from the European Commission and the EEAS (Politico China Direct).
Executive Vice-President for a European Green Deal Frans Timmermans, Chinese Special Representative for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry all joined in person and participated in panel discussions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which takes place from the 23rd to the 26th May (World Economic Forum event page).
On 20th May, the European External Action Service (EEAS) released its annual reports on the on political and economic developments in 2021 in Hong Kong and Macao (Hong Kong and Macao reports).
On 25th May, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a call (French Foreign Ministry and Chinese MFA readouts).
In light of new reports on the human rights situation in Western China, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss released a statement addressing the issue on the 24th May ( UK Government readout). German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also mentioned the issue in her call Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the 24th, where several other topics of interest such as the Ukraine war and climate cooperation were discussed (German MFA and Chinese MFA readouts).
WTO
On 17th June, the World Trade Organization’s 12th Ministerial Meeting concluded. The meeting produced a number of outcomes, including decisions on fisheries subsidies, e-commerce, a waiver of some requirements linked to COVID-19 vaccine licensing, food security, e-commerce and WTO reform. (WTO page press release on the outcomes of the meeting).
The World Trade Organization’s 12th Ministerial Meeting, which was set to conclude on the 15th June, has now been extended by one day in order to facilitate outcomes (webpage of the 12th Ministerial Conference, and statements by European Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao).
French Elections
On 19th June, the second round of the French legislative elections took place. With 245 seats, President Emmanuel Macron’s party, Ensemble!, failed to get an absolute majority, while NUPES, the coalition of left-wing parties, got 133 seats and the Far Right got 89 seats. Les Républicains got 64 seats ((French Government results page, and Politico article).
On 12th June, the first round of the French legislative elections took place, with results setting pitting current President Macron’s coalition against the French left (French Government results page, and Le Monde article in English on the first round).
United States
On 21st June, the United States Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLP) was made effective. The UFLP prohibits the import of goods into The US manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in China and particularly Xinjiang (Department of Homeland Security dedicated page).
Others
On 24th May, the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) and the Conference Board published the Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence™ for Europe, which polls European corporate leaders and reflects their sentiment on current trends. For this edition, the survey was also circulated in China between April 14 and April 28 to 42 CEOs and Executives and contains their views (ERT press release).
WATCH OUT FOR:
The NATO Summit in Madrid on the 28th, 29th and 30th June.