Germany’s drive for EU-China deal draws criticism
from other EU countries
Italy, Poland, Belgium and Spain don’t like the way
the investment agreement was pushed through in the last days of the German
presidency of the EU.
BY JAKOB
HANKE VELA, GIORGIO LEALI AND BARBARA MOENS
January 1,
2021 9:04 am
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's strong push to
conclude the EU-China deal in the last days of the year has left a bad
aftertaste among a group of EU countries who said they felt ignored.
Officials
from Italy, Poland, Belgium and Spain criticized the way Germany pushed through
the investment agreement with China in the final days of the German presidency
of the Council of the EU, despite their warnings that the timing was tone deaf
to slave labor concerns in China and risked alienating incoming U.S. President
Joe Biden.
The
officials said they felt steamrolled by Merkel and the "German
engine" inside the European Commission, in particular Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen and trade department director Sabine Weyand, who are both
German.
“There’s a
lot of frustration among smaller countries about the way the Commission has
been used to push through one of Merkel’s pet projects at the end of her term
and the end of her legacy,” said one EU diplomat.
“Is this
the way the EU will work post-Brexit? The Brits are just out and we’re already
missing their open market-oriented approach," the diplomat said. "If
Germany weighs in too much, smaller EU countries have nothing to say."
The EU on
Wednesday sealed a bilateral investment pact with China, allowing investors to
acquire companies in a number of sectors, limiting joint venture requirements
and allowing foreign employees to work in their respective markets.
But the
critics worried that the deal was a political win for Chinese President Xi
Jinping and came just as his government cracked down on democracy in Hong Kong,
ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and journalists reporting on the origins of the
coronavirus pandemic.
"We
are giving a positive signal to China at a time of significant human-rights
concerns,” Italian Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Ivan Scalfarotto told the
Corriere della Sera on Thursday, citing China’s crackdown in Hong Kong, “the
persecution of Uighurs,” and the four-year prison sentence imposed on a
journalist this week for reporting on the pandemic in Wuhan.
German
officials insist they and the Commission consulted with other capitals and that
while some raised objections no one held up a "stop sign" to halt the
deal.
Transatlantic
snub
One EU
official also pointed out that Weyand briefed member countries twice before
Brussels sealed the pact with China, even though the Commission already had a
legal mandate to negotiate and so was allowed to conclude the deal.
But that
mandate was seven years old, as another diplomat from the group of critical countries
pointed out, adding he was skeptical whether it was wise for the Commission to
conclude the deal based on that mandate, given that relations with China had
changed significantly in the meantime.
Diplomats
also pointed out that some countries, such as Poland, had publicly voiced their
opposition to rushing the deal through. "We need more consultations and
transparency bringing our transatlantic allies on board. A good, balanced deal
is better than a premature one," Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau
tweeted last week.
The
countries also argued that Brussels should have coordinated its approach with
U.S. President-elect Biden, who said he wanted to work with the EU to tackle
China. Biden takes office on January 20, so China's last-minute concessions,
which paved the way for this week's deal, suggested Beijing wanted to lock the
EU into an agreement before the transatlantic allies could coordinate a tougher
approach.
Brussels
should have waited for the new U.S. administration to take office before concluding
the deal, Italy's Scalfarotto said. "This decision at this specific stage
creates a problem," he said. "The incoming administration cannot
speak, but it had made it clear that it would have preferred Europe to wait. I
want to hope they don't consider it rude ... we must not miss the opportunity
to work with Biden."
Scalfarotto
said that, while Europe was entitled to seal its own trade deals, there was no
need for "unnecessary rudeness."
EU tensions
Italy was
also unhappy that French President Emmanuel Macron was invited to take part in
a videoconference with Chinese President Xi Jinping alongside Merkel, who
represented the EU presidency, while other EU leaders were not.
“I don’t
believe that having Macron, the choice of one country over the other 26, was
justified. It’s an unusual format which also marks a defeat for us Italians,”
Scalfarotto said, adding that Italy had asked to have EU leaders only on the
call.
Other EU
officials echoed the criticism of France. While France's junior minister for
trade Franck Riester last week publicly criticized the deal over a lack of
commitments on slave labor and a lack of investment protection, Paris ended up
backing the deal.
Two
diplomats said Macron had secured benefits for some particular companies, such
as Airbus. Merkel, another official said, reached an understanding with Macron
under which she would get to conclude the deal under the German presidency,
while the ratification and signing of the deal would be finalized under the
French Council presidency in the first half of 2022.
The group
of critical countries worried the Franco-German push had led Brussels to ignore
some legitimate concerns about the deal. They feared this approach, ignoring
other views, did not bode well for the way the EU would handle its relations
with America and China in the future.
"This
isn’t just another deal with some small country," one of the diplomats
said. "The way we position ourselves in the U.S.-China dynamic will make
or break the EU."
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