EU officials say China is unwilling to give binding commitments on Europe’s key demands
Brussels — Top EU leaders meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a summit in Brussels on Tuesday, but their hopes of winning solid commitments on trade look set for disappointment.
EU officials say China is unwilling to give binding commitments on their key demands, including the inclusion of industrial subsidies as part of World Trade Organisation reform, and they are reluctant to agree the kind of anodyne declaration of good intentions pushed out after last year’s summit in Beijing.
“Apart from France and the UK, which is leaving the EU, member governments lack a geopolitical mindset.” Former Greek finance minister and scourge of the EU, Yanis Varoufakis, said Europe only had itself to blame if Mediterranean countries turned to China. The meeting in Paris gave the EU — through its two most powerful members — the chance to press its concerns directly with the paramount Chinese leader. But analysts say it also seriously undercut this week’s summit in Brussels, where Li will hold talks not with heads of government but with Juncker and EU Council president Donald Tusk.
At the same time, Lee-Makiyama warned, Europe risks being left playing catch-up if US-China trade talks result in a deal between the world’s two biggest economies.
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