Thread by @fbermingham

French trade minister @franckriester has addressed the European Parliament's trade committee about France's EU presidency.

A few takeaways, looking from the perspective of EU-China trade relations.

On Taiwan: he said Taipei is a "very important partner" and the French presidency will "continue to deepen the relationship".

They will "follow closely" what the commission intends in this space, but there are "no ongoing negotiations"

(EC has no plans for BIA with Taiwan)

Lithuania: the EU will be requesting consultations at the WTO and "we support that", re Chinese coercion.

This is "further evidence of the importance of having independent anti-coercion legislation".

"Lithuania will be discussed in the work of the Council in next few months"

Anti-coercion instrument:

"Has to be dissuasive in nature", has to be "strong enough" and "as full as possible", but needs to also take into account possible impact on EU biz.

(still nothing on any shorter term measures that could be taken on the Lithuania-China situation)

Forced labour ban:

Riester says the situation in Xinjiang is "extremely serious" and that's why "we should have a specific instrument to block certain products made by product of forced labour"

Riester says it will be worked on in coming weeks

"Absolutely this is a huge issue and we certainly want to push it forward in the council"

No timeline, but @kvanbrempt and @KarinKarlsbro said they need a separate forced labour ban, not fused with supply chain due diligence

Sanctions:

Riester asked by @IuliuWinkler if there was plan to wind down Chinese sanctions and unlock CAI:

Doesn't want to veer into "diplomatically sensitive territory" but said despite sanctions on MEPs in the room "at the same time we need to continue to trade with China"

There are "opportunities to address China" within the trade brief - international procurement, anti-coercion instruments, social and human rights tools, etc

EU-China summit at "yet to be determined date" will have a "high-level meeting" looking at trade and economic issues

International procurement instrument:

This could be ready by end of March, said both Riester and chair @berndlange.

Part of a drive for reciprocity: would block companies from lucrative EU procurement markets if the access is not mirrored in their own countries.

Overall, plenty of talk on "sovereignty". Riester said the EU's trade policy needs to "not be naive".

Vowed to progress IPI, ACI & forced labour ban, subsidies under 🇫🇷 prez, also seeking to grow trade with China.

Reciprocity & mirroring clauses are priorities in trade policy