EU faces scrap over control of tool to counter China’s ‘economic coercion’

European Council accused of attempted power grab by lawmakers in its proposal for the new trade weapon

Three meetings are planned before Christmas to begin thrashing out the final text of the hotly anticipated instrument

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EU institutions will sit down on Monday to begin drafting a final version of an anti-coercion trade instrument. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 2:00pm, 25 Nov 2022Updated: 3:45pm, 25 Nov 2022

The European Union is quickly advancing with a powerful new trade weapon designed to curb alleged economic bullying by China and other actors, but Brussels is girding itself for a scrap over who decides when to use it.

EU institutions will sit down on Monday for what are expected to be prickly negotiations to try to carve out a final version of the hotly anticipated anti-coercion instrument.

The tool will allow Brussels to slap countries with tariffs, quotas or market entry freezes if they “interfere in the legitimate sovereign choices” of the EU or its member states “by applying or threatening to apply measures affecting trade or investment”.

The measure was proposed last year, and developed in response to former US president Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on European goods.

After a lukewarm response from EU nations, it gained popular support following China’s apparent coercion of Lithuania after the Baltic nation deepened its ties with Taiwan.

Then came Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which exposed the bloc’s reliance on Russian energy – so much so, that some hoped the instrument would be ready to use by next year.

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