Commission proposes to open negotiations for an investment agreement with China

EU News 251/2013

IP/13/458
Brussels, 23 May 2013

The European Commission decided today to ask the Member States for their agreement on a mandate to open negotiations on an investment agreement with China. This is the first ever proposal for a stand-alone investment agreement since foreign direct investment became the exclusive competence of the EU under the Lisbon Treaty.

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An EU-China investment agreement would streamline the existing bilateral investment protection agreements between China and 26 EU Member States into a single, coherent text. The main objectives of an agreement at EU level are to improve the protection of EU investments in China as well as Chinese investments in Europe, improving legal certainty regarding treatment of EU investors in China, reducing barriers to investing in China and, as a result, increasing bilateral investment flows. It should also, crucially, cover improved access to the Chinese market – addressing important issues like mandatory joint ventures.

Source and additional information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-458_en.htm?locale=en

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