IGIR Fellow Leila Choukroune presents Study on EU-China Trade Relations to European Parliament
18 October 2011
The China miracle? The China threat? China is at the core of every economic conversation and more than ever before perceived as THE strategically important market. Ten years after Beijing’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), this raises a number of crucial issues about EU companies market access capacities and, in the long run, the attractiveness of a Chinese market that is perceived as both strategic and difficult to penetrate. On October 11, 2011, IGIR Fellow Assistant Professor Leila Choukroune presented the results of an EP-funded IGIR Study (“EU-China Trade Relations”) aimed at providing an independent and concise overview of the major risks and opportunities in EU-China trade and investment relations. Drawing upon a number of economic and legal assessments largely related to China’s WTO commitments and its performance in implementation, the study concludes that EU companies are well equipped to overcome the current China challenges, but they need to be better supported by an EU policy geared to the specificities of the Chinese case. This policy should concentrate on the following targets:
- Overcoming Fragmentation caused by too many EU-China institutional linkages
- Visibility of EU businesses in China
- Reaching an operational consensus and presenting a united front to China
- Re-evaluating the role of the state in pursuing EU industrial policies
The Study was authored by Denise PREVOST, Leïla CHOUKROUNE and Rogier CREEMERS (Maastricht University Law Faculty, the Netherlands) Jean-François HUCHET (French Centre for Research on Contemporary China - CEFC, Hong Kong). The Hearing at the European parliament was held to ensure a balanced and in depth debate before the INTA Committee drafted and issued an own initiative report. The European Parliament hearing at which IGIR’s study was presented was recorded and streamed.
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