Germany ‘won’t take bad deal’ on investment with China
- Bloc hasn’t given up on negotiating a level playing field for European companies in China but progress has been limited, German envoy to the EU says
- Issue expected to be on the agenda on Monday for the EU-China summit
In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Michael Clauss, a German ambassador to Beijing before moving to Brussels in 2018, described the progress of talks over the deal to protect European investors in China as “quite limited”.
With Germany preparing to take up the EU Council’s rotating presidency next month, Clauss struck a cautious tone on EU-China relations and cast doubt on any attempts to divide EU opinion on China, saying: “Today, there is a growing convergence among European member states on a joint, common, unified China policy.”
The EU and China launched talks on an investment deal seven years ago and any initial hopes that any agreement can be reached have faded. That is in part due to the bloc shifting its priorities to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and in part because of Beijing’s unwillingness to make concessions on the special status enjoyed by state-owned enterprises.
“So far, progress on the investment treaty has been quite limited. We are definitely not there yet. We currently don’t have the dynamic that would be necessary in order to clinch a deal,” Clauss said. “The EU and China have been negotiating for seven years, so I think we should come to terms now.”
Nevertheless, the investment deal is expected to be a major focus on Monday when European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold their first EU-China summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.