EU-China agreement (United States and disputes)

Question for written answer  E-000926/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Hélène Laporte (ID)

The EU congratulated itself for having signed an investment agreement with China at the end of December 2020, before the official inauguration of the new US President.

The provisional text was subsequently made public on 23 January 2021.

It is clear that a number of significant points remain vague or reliant on China’s goodwill.

Until 2022, the basis for resolving any disputes will be the bilateral treaties between the 27 Member States and China.

The Commission has still not published all the annexes to the agreement, including details of the commitments made by each party to open its markets.

• 1.Were Commission negotiators instructed to conclude the provisional agreement before Joe Biden was inaugurated, at the risk of damaging the transatlantic alliance?
• 2.Can the Commission say which courts of arbitration will rule on any commercial disputes between now and 2022?
• 3.Has the Commission stipulated that there will be no technology transferred to China or any obligation to set up a joint venture?