EC Pauses Ratification Effort for Chinese Investment Deal Following Sanctions

The European Commission halted efforts to ratify a massive investment deal with China following back-and-forth sanctions over China's human rights violations committed against its Uighur Muslim ethnic minority, The Guardian reported May 4. “We now in a sense have suspended … political outreach activities from the European Commission side,” Valdis Dombrovskis, the commission’s executive vice president, said. The deal, called the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, was negotiated in December and secured greater market access for European Union companies in China along with certain questionable concessions on subsidies and labor standards (see 2101250052). “As long as members of the European Parliament are on sanction[s] list,” ratifying the agreement is “impossible,” Michael Reiterer, distinguished professor at Brussels School of Governance, told The Guardian.