Committee on International Trade Ordinary meeting
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INTA European Parliament
Follow its sittingsBernd Lange
Against abstention, rejected. Then we switch to compromise two in favor, against abstention adopted. Then we switch to compromise three in favor of against abstention adopted. Then we switch to AGRI three in favor, against, abstention, rejected. We switch to AGRI five in favor, against abstention rejected.
We switch to AGRI seven in favor, against, abstention rejected. AGRI nine in favor, against, abstention rejected. AGRI 13 in favor, against, abstention rejected. AGI one in favor, against, abstention rejected. And amendment 55 in favor, against, abstention rejected.
Amendment 57 in favor, against, abstention rejected. Amendment 85 in favor, against, abstention rejected, amendment 88 in favor, against, abstention rejected, and we have now the final vote electronically, and the vote is open. And the vote is closed and is clearly adopted with 29 votes. Thanks a lot for this vote. And this one really reminds me of an old rock song, and you all know that I'm really a fan of rock music.
Let's stick together. And I guess, in this situation, we should really stick together towards the United States and to all other forces worldwide as to Europeans. So let's stick together. Thanks a lot. There is now a vote for the mandate for institutional negotiation.
I heard from a lot of political groups that they want to go to plenary, so I'm not in favor of this vote. But, nevertheless, we have to vote on that. So who is in favor? It's a whole. We have to do it.
Vote So is open. And the vote is closed. And nobody's in favor. Good. And then we switched to the famous lobster deal.
So this was introduced under Trump one to avoid escalation. Matthias, you remember. And, it had also some effect in the relation. Hopefully, this will have the same effect this time. So, for amendment 13, news are in favor.
Oh, roll call. Excuse me. So the vote is open. And the vote is closed. It's clearly rejected.
Compromise one in favor of against abstention adopted. Amendment 15 in favor, against, abstention rejected. Amendment 17 in favor, against, abstention rejected. Amendment 20 in favor, against, abstention rejected. And then we have the final vote electronically, and the vote is open.
And the vote is closed and is clearly adopted with 29 votes, nine against, and one abstention. So thanks a lot for this vote. And once again, we have now a clear position.
The mandate. The vote on the
Bernd Lange
Oh, the mandate. The mandate. Yes. Good to have you here. So, also, here, the question is to go immediately to the negotiation with the council.
The vote is open. And the vote is closed and is clearly rejected with 39 votes. So, thanks a lot. We have a clear position now. Three steps, and we will start negotiation and defend the position of the parliament.
Speaker 6
Thanks a lot. So five minutes break. So, dear colleagues, the monitoring groups. Yes. It's an integrated part of our work in the committee, and we start with the monitoring group on Mercosur, which took place on February 24.
Gabriel Mato
Thank you very much, chairman. Yeah. I'll give you a brief summary of the meeting held on February 24. It was our tenth meeting, so the tenth monitoring group meeting. Of course, we focused on the whole ratification process of the Mercosur agreement.
We also looked at the provisional implementation of the agreement. We heard from the commission, and they gave us an update on the ratification process. And back then, the ratification process was progressing in leaps and bounds, much more quickly than we expected. But we've heard that the four Mercosur countries have ratified the provisional trade agreement. And we just got that news out of the press.
So now we have to, let me also say that the official journey published the safeguards regulation, which, of course, is very much linked to Mercosur. The provisional implementation issue has become more urgent, and the monitoring group debated it in detail. The council decided in January that the agreement had to be implemented provisionally as soon as one of the Mercosur countries notified us that they were done with the ratification process. Argentina and Uruguay have sent this notification. They've reported on this, and then we're waiting for Brazil and Paraguay.
They've wrapped up. And so on February 27, the commission announced that the EU is ready to implement this provisionally. We don't know exactly when this provision application will kick in, but it will probably happen quite quickly, probably in May or June at the latest. It's true that there are different opinions on the agreement and provisional application, but those who try to throw a spanner in the works by going to the court of justice and creating all sorts of obstacles, we've managed to speed all of this up because now it seems that provisional implementation will actually happen earlier, so they've actually sped up the whole process. So fortunately, the whole safeguard regulation did move forward in parallel, and it did get approved.
So now the agricultural sector knows that there won't be any problems. This provisional implementation will allow us to see the real-time effects of the agreement in practice. And so, therefore, we'll take a more informed decision when the Court of Justice rules. Thank you very much.
Bernd Lange
Thanks a lot. Gracias. Any questions? Not the case. Then we switch to our famous neighbor, Switzerland.
And Julio is the.
Speaker 8
Yes. Thank you very much, chair. I'm talking on behalf of our colleague, Juliana Zovko, who is the rapporteur for Switzerland. And the monitoring group meeting took place after the council gave its green light to the signature of the package of EU-Switzerland agreements. Commission presented the agreements to the monitoring group members, which, for us, for the European Parliament, are treated as one single package.
Speaker 9
Monitoring group discussed the issue of provisional application. And while there is interest in applying parts of the package provisionally, this is, for the moment, not really feasible due to the upcoming Swiss referendum. Only exception to this unfeasibility is participation in union programs, currently the space program, which can be provisionally applied. However, if the package is not ratified by 2028, then Switzerland will lose the participation rights to the EU programs in general. Important, all other agreements are EU only, meaning that there is no ratification required by the member states.
Speaker 7
On the Swiss side, the referendum remains a political milestone. There is a generally positive narrative notes, Geliana, but the timing is challenging. The Commission highlighted that there is no plan B. So failure to ratify would lead to a gradual erosion of EU-Switzerland relation. So this is something that we do not really want.
Maintaining the status quo is not a viable option. Thank you.
Bernd Lange
Yeah. Indeed. Thanks a lot. We discussed this also yesterday in the committee, and we will go to Bern in 2 weeks. Thanks a lot, Julio.
And then we switch to Vietnam where we have now had a five years trade agreement. And, Julio, you again have the floor. You are sending a report here.
Speaker 9
Yes. But this time, I'm reading out my own speaking notes about the monitoring group meeting, which had two points on the agenda. We had a meeting with the Domestic Advisory Group representative, who has a new Chair, Dilyana Slabova. And then we had a discussion with Digitrade. So regarding the Domestic Advisory Group, the new Chair presented the main points discussed at the meeting that they just had a couple of weeks ago.
There have been concerns expressed regarding the respect for human rights and also the tactics of continued delay to the ratification of ILO conventions and the effective application of the ILO conventions that have already been ratified. There is also concern related to the recently adopted trade union law, which is not very clear if it is in full conformity to ILO standards and respects, or maybe not really, the trade union's independence. As part of the DAG to DAG meeting, other issues have also been discussed, such as the ongoing complaints that exist to the EU single entry point, the sustainability dimensions of some sectors of Vietnamese industry, namely textile and garment, and the challenges posed by the CBEM application. On trade part, we exchange the FDA implementation issues with Mr. Montysa from DigiTrade, trade irritants.
And of course, there is a question of the rising trade deficit with Vietnam. Vietnamese exports to the European Union have surged by 60%, so the FTA is good. But EU exports to Vietnam have only been increasing by 10%, which means that we can improve a lot of things. There has been a visit of Maro Shefchowicz, the trade commissioner to Hanoi. And then as a conclusion of the visit, there has been established an EU Vietnam task force, which is trying to solve the administrative problems in Vietnam, reducing administrative delays, approvals, and many other things specific to the regime in Vietnam.
Of course, we upgrade our relations to the strategic partnership, which also has to bring tangible results in the equilibrium between the trade balance EU and Vietnam. There have been discussions on how to more effectively ensure that market opening, market access and administrative burden are improved for European companies in Vietnam. Next meeting of the monitoring group in the second part of the year. And of course, this time, I can also answer questions if that is the case.
Udo?
Udo Bullmann
Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Julio. I attended this meeting, and you did great, and thanks for your report. My impression is the following. In addition to what you were reporting to the committee, well, I think that much more is possible with Vietnam. And I'm not talking only about economics.
I'm talking about civic space. I'm talking about political freedom. I'm talking about regulatory dialogue towards a better understanding of values and the implementation of values. But there is one element which is hindering that, and this is different than in other countries. It's not a delay.
It's not technical. It's not corruption. It's the approach of the leadership, the political leadership, that to open civic space endangers them because it will lead to regime change. This is the basic reason why we cannot move forward with essential parts of the agreement. And here, I think it's not only a duck question.
It's a leadership question. Because only if this task force lives up to this challenge, the task force you mentioned, only if the commission invests itself with a certain kind of political leadership reasserting Vietnam that we are not Trumpish, that we are in the good spirit of collaboration, and that it's not dangerous to follow to implement what we really agreed upon. We will see the move forward. And so far, I would ask politely whether this committee could have the chance to listen to the task force results and to invite high level people who have a certain say in that organization of task force talks and negotiations to inform us more timely than only to listen to the monitoring group in the second half of the year.
Speaker 9
Julio? Well, thank you very much. I think I agree with your analysis because it's clear that Vietnam is a huge challenge. And I think, I hope I'm not mistaken if I say that this is the first time the European Union has a free trade agreement, a full-fledged agreement with a country with a different system, with a socialist system. So we know very well, and I remember.
So agreeing with your analysis, I just remember that we had discussions with Ben Lange around the process of ratification of the agreement in the European Parliament five years ago, six years ago about having a sort of parliamentary cooperation also, a dimension of parliamentary cooperation between the EU and Vietnam. And, of course, this is a big challenge because you know very well that is not a real parliament functioning in Hanoi. So, of course, they have structures. They have some committees. They have members of the parliament, but that's a different kind of structure.
It's not the real democratic parliament with elected members in the traditional meaning of a democracy. So, of course, then COVID came in 2020, and this was also a hit because you know very well that for two years, the context has been very difficult and only online. So I think this is a topic to discuss maybe further in a sort of meeting or having an analysis. And, of course, if I understand correctly, your proposal would be that we have a monitoring group meeting maybe with Maro Shevzovich or with high level people in this joint committee or the task force to give us a hint of what they are seeing there. So I will try together with the secretary at, of course, to organize such a meeting.
And then.
The format should be at your disposal.
Sorry?
Speaker 9
It could be the monitoring, though, but then let's explore this, and let's reach out to DG trade and also external action service. Okay. Okay. Understood. Thank you.
Bernd Lange
To add and support you in this work totally, together with this trade agreement, we developed this road map for the implementation of labor rights. And they did it step by step. One, ILO commission convention is still missing, 87, and we have to make pressure on them on that as well. And therefore, I guess, the contact also to other stakeholders is really important. And they had even the parliament is totally different from others.
They had to vote for the new national congress on March 14. So they review their leadership as well, and perhaps we can use this as an occasion to start restart this discussion. Perfect. Then we have Udo with the East African community.
Udo Bullmann
Let me take the occasion to thank all the involved colleagues from the secretariat, but also from the duck itself as well as from the commission engaging in the duck work, because I learned again what I knew before, in this East African community that they are an essential tool of transforming our partnership into really living partnerships where we not have only paper commitments but really successful implementation. So we underestimate the work of the DAX, but this is totally unjustified. We should invest ourselves in that even more and strengthen the capacities of the DAX wherever we can. Kenya, the legal situation is a bit tricky because 24th November last year, the regional East African Court of Justice suspended the implementation of the EPA following a complaint that Kenya and that was the interpretation did not consult sufficiently the regional partners while signing the agreement. We know that this is not totally justified because the partners were not interested in joining at the very beginning, from the outset.
And some of the observers have the interpretation that that should be a tool for neighboring countries to join, but under new conditions and totally renegotiate the partnership agreement, which may be perhaps not in our interest because we invested really a lot, and this is also the commission's interpretation. We have conducted this monitoring group on March 5 together with the chair of the European DAC, Miss Elena Costa, and together with a representative of the Commission, Miss Christina Miranda Gonzalez, head of unit African Caribbean Pacific overseas countries and territories. So we were very well informed from both sides, and both sides came to the same conclusion that to renegotiate is not an option for us, and that we are united here together with the Kenyan government. The Kenyan government itself has immediately made clear that this court ruling will not disturb the trade relationships, and they will continue in the best spirit of the agreement. And as we can observe empirically, that is indeed exactly the case.
They have also decided to file an appeal to the court decision, so we are waiting for that. The political situation is promising and interesting. At the same time, we see, if you look at Kenya, that this is, in comparison to others, either it is really a privileged country on the African Continent. It's full of potential. But nonetheless, you see the unrest of the youth.
You see the demanding young population longing for success on the labor markets, longing for success in education and in concrete economic and social perspectives for their generation. So there is time pressure on the agreements to fly and to be successful, not only in economic and trading terms. This is a very progressive agreement because we have binding provisions on labor issues, on gender equality, on the environment, and on the fight against climate change. And the DAC is a challenge in itself because this is an example, one of the first ones, and I think the first one on the African continent, where the DAC is responsible not only for the TSD chapter, but for the whole agreement. So excellent colleagues are working on that.
We have an excellent exchange with the European DAC, but there is a missing link. The Kenyan side is not fully fledged so far. And what we should do is to ask the commission and to invest ourselves and also the delegation on the ground to support as good as they can, as good as we can, the fully fledged development of the Kenyan duck as well. Because for July, there is foreseen a duck to duck meeting, and that should already produce productively good results. We received an invitation of the European DAC for the European Parliament, for the chair of the monitoring group to participate in April in the next DAC meeting.
And as far as I understand, he's willing to follow that invitation.
Bernd Lange
Thanks a lot, Udo. And indeed, this is quite unique, that the DAC is responsible for the whole agreement, also for the economic part. We have it only in the TCA with the UK so far, and it might be in the agreement with Mexico. But in all other, the DACs are only responsible for the trade and sustainable chapter. And I would really underline the argumentation that Kenya is a chance to have a proper cooperation between European Union and an African country.
They are really looking at us, and they are really young. And you mentioned it quite here. I guess the average age is 24. And in Europe, we have 45. So that's a big difference.
And they want to engage and have a proper life, which is acceptable. And there are a lot of potential on also IT. And therefore, I guess, should really be more proactive as European Union. So support for this approach, Udo. Any further remarks?
Not the case. Then we switch to the United Arab Emirates. Lindblom is not here. It took place on March 17. Just saying, it's complicated.
So, without further comments on the United Arab Emirates. China, there was also a group on March 17 discussing a little bit the actual situation. And, of course, we also had the question of overcapacity yesterday in the committee. And this leads me to the next item. It's item 21, the state of play of the negotiations with the council, the dialogue.
And we have only one at the moment going on. This is the negotiations on the steel safeguard, and we had it Tuesday, so two days ago, without any results. So we have some small understanding, some small achievement, but it was, let's say, not so productive as I hoped, for several reasons. So there will be another trial log coming mid-April. Good.
'22. We have the recommendation for the council commission and so on, changing geopolitical situation in East Asia and the need for closer cooperation with like minded partners in the region. And the rapporteur for the opinion is the opinion to affect. The rapporteur is Richard Colts, and I give him immediately the floor for 5 minutes. Yes.
Speaker 11
Thank you, chair. Yes. Please, colleagues, lend me your ears. But just saying the initial report by Affett committees is really comprehensive and well-balanced. Therefore, my report focuses on incorporating more the trade focus language.
As the preamble for this opinion, I would like to stress one key point. Trade policy is at the heart of geopolitics in East Asia, and we should acknowledge that. It's not just in Europe, but also in East Asia. The draft opinion reflects a simple reality. East Asia and the wider Indo Pacific are not just important, they are indispensable for Europe's economic future and strategic resilience.
The region hosts critical supply chains, advanced technologies, and key maritime routes that underpin global trade and EU competitiveness. At the same time, this region is becoming increasingly contested, shaped by geopolitical tensions, economic coercion, and systematic rivalry, which is why the EU position must be clear and pragmatic and strategic. First, opinion calls for a stronger and more visible EU economic presence in East Asia. This is not only about values, democracy, rule of law, and human rights, although these remain essential. It is also about strengthening our economic security through diversification, resilient supply chains, and reliable partnerships.
Second, at these turbulent times, we must deepen cooperation with like-minded partners. The opinion rightly highlights the importance of building on existing agreements, such as those with Japan and South Korea, and ensuring their full implementation. At the time when the rules-based system is under pressure, strengthening cooperation with trusted partners is not optional, it is necessary. Third, the draft opinion puts strong emphasis on critical technologies and supply, especially semiconductors. Here, cooperation with partners like Taiwan is particularly important.
Fourth, the opinion underlines the need to align more closely with partners on economic security and trade policy tools. Fragmentation weakens us, and coordination strengthens us. Whether it's export controls, investment screening or response to coercive practices, we need a more coherent and coordinated approach with our partners in the region. And finally, the opinion reaffirms the importance of multilateralism as the WTO remains a cornerstone of the global trading system, and we must work with partners in East Asia to reform and strengthen it, in particular, including the plurilateral initiatives such as e-commerce. This opinion is not about choosing sides.
It is about ensuring that Europe has the capacity, deepens cooperation with like minded partners, and a strategic clarity to act in a more complex world. In conclusion, this draft opinion sends a strong and timely message. Europe must engage more, cooperate more, and act more strategically in East Asia because our prosperity, security, and global influence depend on it. So thank you for your attention, and if colleagues have any questions, I look forward to the shadow's opinions as well on this. Thank you.
Bernd Lange
Thanks a lot for this overview. I will make just a short break. We spoke about the dialogue, and I reported on Tuesday, but now our operator is there. Perhaps you want to come in shortly.
Speaker 12
I apologize. Thank you so much. I'm sure that you gave an update, so I don't think it's not necessary to say much from my side. Then we had a very good and constructive negotiation. There are still some points on the agenda which have to be solved, and it's about the flexibility to carry over quotas from one quarter to another, as well as the opening of the scope to items, which is crucial, of course.
And I am an optimist, and I'm optimistic as well that we will find a solution on the next trial log. But we it's necessary that we work in our group and also try to prepare ourselves so we can finalize this in time, because we know that the current safeguard will end in the middle of summer. So we are under time pressure as well. Thank you, Bernd, and apologize once again.
Bernd Lange
Thanks a lot, Karim. So the steel safeguard is, of course, relevant for our partner in East Asia. And, therefore, we have to be careful on that as well, but we will have it in our mind, of course. So the cooperation with like-minded partners, and Richard's made this quite clear, is really important for us. And now I would like to hear the shares on that.
And I guess, for the EPP, it is mister Soido.
Speaker 13
Thank you very much, chair. Unfortunately, my colleague Nicolas Pasquale de la Parte is unable to be here today, but he's asked me to read out his speaking notes. Firstly, he'd like to recognize that the draft opinion is an excellent basis for future negotiations. This document marks a good starting point, and discussions thus far have been productive and well-founded. Moving forward, there are many opportunities to strengthen and improve the EU's position when it comes to trading partners in East Asia, and this is something we'll be improving via amendments.
Firstly, we should align our ambitions with a strategy to reduce risk in order to manage our strategic dependencies and to strengthen the supply chain. This approach is not only essential for our economic security, but also for supporting our international relations and preventing economic decoupling. Secondly, we should underscore the importance of economic security instruments that the EU has. These could be anti-coercion instruments, FDI control instruments, and import controls. These tools are vital so that we can combat coercive practices and ensure fair competition within the EU market.
Finally, we must strengthen cooperation when it comes to critical infrastructure resilience, especially when it comes to digital networks and undersea cables. Cooperation with like-minded partners in East Asia is vital so that we can ensure our infrastructure is more secure and more resilient. And therefore, the amendments that we are tabling don't just bolster the EU's position, but also allow us to maintain our global competitiveness without losing sight of the principles that define our foreign policy and prevent any economic challenges there too. Thank you.
Muchas gracias. Kathleen.
Speaker 15
Thank you very much, colleagues. Let me start by saying that we support the overall direction of the report, and thank the rapporteur for the work. As we mentioned, the Indo-Pacific and East Asia, in particular, is a key region for Europe for our future and for our cooperation. Development in the regions has the potential to directly affect European interests as well for us, but I think that does work for any other group. The question is not that we should cooperate, but also how we cooperate.
So let me make a few remarks. First of all, what we need to do is to deliver on what we've already agreed, and this means fully implementing our existing trade agreements with South Korea and Japan, including labor rights, sustainability, and digital rules. Secondly, we should step up our cooperation in strategic sectors with key partners such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, especially in areas like investment, digital trade, critical technologies, and so on. And third, we need to better align our approach to respond to unfair trading practices. And as we all know, a rule-based system that is only respected when convenient is not a stable system.
Speaker 16
So not a loose alignment, that looks great on paper, but real coalitions in this is necessary. And this includes working together on securing supply chains and critical technologies, but also enforcement and tackling unfair practices. And this is precisely where Europe and its partners can make the difference by promoting high standards and avoiding a race to the bottom and so at the expense of workers and the planet. So for the S and D, strong engagement, therefore, goes hand in hand with the new renewed commitment, sorry, on multilateralism, not as it was in the past, but as it should be fair, more balanced, and more enforceable. So you can expect s and d amendments to further reinforce this approach to the report, with a particular emphasis on defending a rules-based trading system, promoting the ratification and effective implementation of core ILO conventions, and ensuring that this type of cooperation goes hand in hand with trade and, of course, our economic security instruments.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 17
Thank you, chair. Firstly, I wish to congratulate Rickert on his no surprise, solid draft, a good direction, a good solid document, I mean, to work further on. And as previous colleagues mentioned, indeed, we strongly emphasize the economic interest of the European Union reflected in the East Asia region. It's absolutely growing markets. So that's why for us, it's a possibility to diversify our trade flows and to establish new partnerships and indeed to new cooperation projects, generally speaking.
So that's why we have to probably make very clear that this vast region is a huge possibility. We have to use it in full extent for benefits of both sides, establishing jobs on both sides of these agreements. And indeed, this strategic focus should prevail in our deliberation and final probably text of this document. I fully agree that already established agreements must be implemented. And indeed, trade agreements, including sustainable development commitments, must be taken well into account when proceeding with those agreements.
And again, let's not be short of goodwill and initiative. From a renew side, we would suggest, and it will be indeed reflected in our amendments shortly to come, to explore possibilities of launching EU Taiwan bilateral investment agreements. We know cooperation is on in this regard. And even trade-related frameworks, why not? We have to be indeed pro-initiative based, generally speaking.
Speaker 20
So there will be certain amendments, which I hope will be taken well and will enrich the existing draft. But mister chair, we are looking forward to efficient and kind of result based discussion and debate, what concerns Richard's report. Thank you.
Speaker 18
Richard, thanks a lot. And Rudi? Yes. Thank you, chairman. I will speak in Dutch.
Rudi Kennes
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that.
First of all, thank you very much indeed for this report. Well, when it comes to our position, we do need to work with East Asian trading partners, but not this way. Who is benefiting from this cooperation? That's the main question we need to bear in mind. It's businesses that are benefiting.
Then when it comes to digital trade, we'll just be strengthening the position of big tech. So when it comes to the EU's ability to legislate in this area, well, that's going to be weakened. Big tech will do whatever they want. Public authorities won't have any kind of control over all of this. Moreover, the same can be said for securing the supply chains.
We're just looking at businesses' interest. There might be a race to the bottom, but for employees, their rights, human rights, the climate, nothing is said about all of that. So the question that comes to mind is, will there be any kind of financial benefit for employees? They need stable jobs. They need decent salaries, but none of that is mentioned in the report.
Speaker 21
It's just geopolitical messaging that is put forward under the guise of cooperation.
Bernd Lange
And now we are going to the commission, and it's Marco Chirillo, head of unit Far East and Digitrep.
Speaker 24
Thank you, Mister Chair, and good morning, everyone. Let me say very briefly upfront that the commission supports, agrees with the main elements flashed in the report and during the presentation by the rapporteur. There's no doubt that the region is economically very important. A large chunk of current and future growth is linked to that unit, to that area, comes from that area. And from a strategic point of view, it is also a very important region.
Speaker 25
And so far, we need cooperation with this region to secure stable, resilient supply chains. And that's why we have been investing heavily, hugely in strengthening the relations with partners in the region. Just a few examples, of course, Japan and Korea were mentioned, and the trade agreements were mentioned. The full and effective implementation of the trade agreements in all their parts remains an absolute priority. And we are in the process currently to finalize an ex post evaluation report on the state of the implementation of the EU Japan EPA, which, of course, will reach you and will provide also an overview in this respect.
Speaker 24
When it comes to the economic security dimension that was also mentioned, it's worth referring to the high-level trade and economic dialogue, which has been in place with Japan for a few years now. But as from this year and should be taking place in 2026, it will be co-chaired on the EU side by Commissioner Shakhchowicz, but also by EVP Sejeune because the intent is to have a comprehensive discussion with our Japanese friends on both the trade and industrial dimension that are both essential for the supply chains cooperation. We have also, it was also announced last year at the Trade Committee with Korea that we would establish a specialized committee on economic security with Korea. The commissioner is likely to travel soon to Korea for the Trade Committee again, so for the to look after the implementation of the FTA. But on that occasion, it will most likely also have a specific dialogue on economic security with its counterpart, the trade minister, the Korean trade minister.
Speaker 25
So we are very actively stepping up the cooperation in the region exactly to cater for all the aspects, not only the market access dimension, which remains important, but also more generally the more general economic security dimension that comes with it and goes beyond export control were mentioned. And that is a clear example where dialogue is very intense with our partners in the region, in particular Japan and Korea, and we'll be continuing along those lines. Taiwan was also mentioned. This is a relation which is a trade and investment relation, which is certainly important. And we have intensified our efforts in this respect.
I just want to mention that we, in 2022, decided to upgrade our EU-Taiwan trade and investment dialogue, which is now conducted at DG level. So in December, DGV and the Taiwanese counterpart met to discuss a wide range of issues, not only market access, but issues related to semiconductor supply chains, economic security at large, offshore wind, which is an important interest for companies on the ground and which has a strategic dimension as well, and also technical discussions on issues from steel to the sanitary and feed to sanitary. So that is another example of how we've been stepping up cooperation in the region. Just the last mention, of course, on the recent closer engagement also with CPTPP, where there is a clear objective, which is engaging on issues that go beyond market access because we have agreements in place or ongoing with 11 out of 12 of the CPTPP members. But the objective is to look at supply chains, also an opportunity to look at new ways of governance, rule-making that was mentioned as well during this debate.
So that is a forum where we can explore and discuss how to improve global governance and make sure that we anchor our engagement at a global level to a rules-based system in those difficult times. I'll stop there. Thanks.
Thanks a lot. Richards?
Speaker 11
Yes. Thank you very much, my shadow rapporteurs, colleagues, for both the reflection and also suggestions as well. I duly noted your points and the majority of what you proposed as well from your political groups will reinforce my proposed draft opinion. I have to say, I have to somewhat go after the saying that this is an initial report for effort. We have to give an opinion on a trade dimension to say that the whole report is geopolitical.
It is geopolitical. We talk about a region, not specific countries. When we want to speak on specific countries on labor issues, and etcetera, we have the monitoring groups. We have the different tools to engage and go into the details. Labor rights, I mean, have the Employment and Social Affairs Committee address that issue on those.
We should focus purely on trade issues within the legal frameworks that we have on a bilateral level, be the trade agreements, and etcetera. But on a we have to stress the geopolitical importance of the region on so many fronts, on the supply chains, on the cooperation on, let's say, critical raw materials as well, recently signed partnerships and derive out of that. And I think the opinion proposed, and I will reinforce with the group suggestions as well, to make it a very clear message to the region that the region matters to us. We want to be engaged and particularly from our opinion on trade issues. Of course, the issues are much broader.
And last point I wanted to make, it's not just we go to the region with our demands and our needs, but we actually ask them for their experience, their practices, and expertise. The same applies, for example, to the protection of critical infrastructure. They have the same issues that we are experiencing in Europe as well, how they tackle it, how they create the innovative technological solutions to address these issues. So it is a partnership. It's not a one way approach.
And I think the draft opinion, initial one, reflects that. But in the due process, we'll improve, reinforce it, then send it to AFET. That overall message to the region will be, we are there. We are ready to engage, of course, based on our commonly shared values and principles. Thank you.
Bernd Lange
Yeah. Thanks a lot, Richard. And the deadline for amendment is March 25 at noon. High noon. No?
12:00. Good. Perfect. And now we switch to the last two items of our meeting, which are in camera. So this means, June, you have guaranteed me that there's no web sweep anymore.
And everybody who is not to be allowed in Camara in the inter-committee.
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