Can the EU remain true to its values while engaging in trade and investment with China?
Channel: SOMO Research
Date: 2021-07-07

This is a recording of a webinar that took place on Wednesday, June 23, 2021.

Speakers: 
Amélie Canonne, Researcher for Aitec/Attac France
Joe Zhang, Senior Law Advisor at the International Institute for Sustainable Development
Samira Rafaela, Member of the European Parliament, Renew Europe
Imogen Liu, PhD scholar at Maastricht University
Frans-Paul van der Putten, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

The webinar is moderated by Bart-Jaap Verbeek and Sara Murawski and hosted by SOMO and Handel Anders!

Brief description of the webinar:

This webinar consists of a panel discussion among experts on the Comprehensive Agreement of Investment (CAI), the trade agreement between the EU and China. The first panel focuses on the content of the provisional text and its implications for market access and competition, environmental sustainability and labour and other human rights, the involvement of the European Parliament and the prospects for ratification. The second panel discusses the nature of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), opportunities for engagement with SOEs, and the geopolitical context and consequences of the agreement. The webinar aims to explore the different aspects of the CAI and to serve as a starting point for CSOs to critically engage with the CAI. 

00:00 Intro by Bart-Jaap Verbeek
06:15 Amélie Canonne on market access, competition and protection of EU-based investors
21:00 Investor protection and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)
24:48 Joe Zhang on environmental sustainability, labour rights, and institutional arrangements
43:45 Samira Rafaela on the role of the EP in trade negotiations and prospects for ratification
57:12 Q&A: trade unions, trade agreements and human rights, multilateralism
01:10:57 Welcome back by Sara Murawski
01:13:26 Imogen Liu on the relations between Chinese SOEs, the state and the market
01:29:31 SOEs in Europe
01:35:17 Frans-Paul van der Putten on geopolitics and EU-China-US relations
01:48:35 Q&A: EU’s China strategy, strategic autonomy, cooperation and dialogue
02:00:06  Wrap-up by Sara Murawski