EU Implements Countermeasures Against Foreign Economic Coercion

07.06.2023

In order to prevent countries such as China from using economic coercion to interfere in the political decisions of EU member states, the EU is about to introduce countermeasures. Previously, Beijing had imposed large-scale economic sanctions on Lithuania because Lithuania agreed to Taiwan to set up a representative office in the country.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) In the future, any country that interferes in the political decisions of the EU and its member states will be sanctioned by the EU. On Tuesday, representatives of the EU parliament, as well as government representatives from member states, agreed on a new sanctions tool. In the future, if a third country tries to interfere in the political decisions of the EU or its member states with improper economic sanctions, the EU will be able to counter it by imposing punitive tariffs on the country.

Other responses include restricting the country’s direct investment in the EU and bidding on EU public projects. In addition, the EU also stated that restrictions on related transactions in the service industry will also become possible sanctions.

The reason why the EU introduced the above-mentioned countermeasures is that in the past few years, the EU and its member states have been repeatedly targeted by countries outside the EU for economic coercion. For example,China has imposed trade restrictions on Lithuania, and the EU believes that such restrictions do not comply with the relevant provisions of the World Trade Organization, and have also had a knock-on effect on exports in the EU’s internal market. It is generally believed that China imposed economic sanctions on Lithuania because Lithuania upgraded its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in the country’s capital. The move has drawn strong outrage in China, which has always regarded Taiwan as a province of China without the status of an independent state.

The European Commission said the newly introduced countermeasures tool may be able to influence future EU legislation, or at least avoid the EU’s cumbersome process of temporarily initiating sanctions. For this purpose, the EU can introduce additional, discriminatory tariffs, deliberately delay or deny the issuance of licenses for specific businesses, the statement said. Other options include imposing additional border and security checks on goods from certain countries, or boycotting goods and investments from certain countries.

“This tool against economic coercion will allow us to firmly defend our legal rights,” European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, in charge of economic affairs, said on Tuesday. , Reaching a final consensus on this countermeasure means that the EU has taken an important step. Dombrovskis emphasized that sanctions should only be used as a last resort and a deterrent measure. Before adopting sanctions, dialogue should be conducted with relevant non-EU countries. If the dialogue is unsuccessful, the possibility of mediation, arbitration or judicial proceedings should also be considered.

Before the anti-economic coercion regulations can come into force, they need to be approved by the European Council and Parliament. However, it is generally believed that there is no suspense for the regulation to be approved. The European Commission believes that this new counter-economic coercion tool can be officially launched this autumn.

On Wednesday, at the regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesman Wang Wenbin responded to the EU’s introduction of “anti-economic coercion tools”. He said: “The first thing I want to say is about Lithuania’s wrong actions on Taiwan-related issues. We, the Chinese side, have stated our position many times. We urge Lithuania to return to the correct track of adhering to the one-China principle as soon as possible.”

Wang Wenbin also said: “Both China and the European Union are victims of economic coercion by the United States. The United States has blatantly coerced the European Union and other countries to restrict the export of semiconductor production equipment to China. This kind of technological bullying has seriously impacted the development of the semiconductor industry. It not only damages the interests of China and the European Union, It also undermines multilateral trade rules and seriously impacts the world economic order. We hope that the EU and the international community will work together to oppose the economic coercion of the United States.”

(DPA, AFP)

© 2023 Deutsche Welle Copyright Statement: All content in this article is protected by copyright law and may not be used without special authorization from Deutsche Welle. Any wrongdoing will result in recovery and be subject to criminal prosecution.