President of the European Commission Jean-Cloude Juncker speaks at the press conference with President of the European Council Donald Tusk, following the 18th EU-China Summit, and delivers speech at the EU-China Business Summit
President Juncker said that with his Chinese counterparts he expressed the EU’s serious concerns over the overcapacity in steel production. “This is a very serious problem for Europe and for the Europeans, that has led to extensive job losses in Europe in the past”, he said, stressing that market rules must apply to address this current problem in China.
As a concrete result of his discussions with his Chinese counterparts, President Juncker announced that the two sides agreed to create a bilateral working group on steel to monitor overcapacity and verify steps taken by China to address it – “a kind of steel platform between China and the European Union to keep alive the debates and the discussions we have and monitor decisions related to the steel overproduction” he said.
On the issue of market economy status, President Juncker underlined that the EU will stick to its international obligations and is producing an impact assessment looking at the consequences for each EU Member State and only following this process, will the Commission take a decision. The College will have a debate on this on 20 July, President Juncker announced. President Juncker also spoke at the EU-China Business Summit where he underlined the EU’s commitment to protecting its steel industry and the use of trade defence measures it has at its disposal, warning against the spill over effect of overcapacity in the steel sector to other sectors.
The President also stressed that the ongoing reforms in both China and Europe create mutual opportunities including with regards to investment. He concluded by calling for the deepening of the EU-China partnership – “it is on this condition,” he said, “that it will become the engine of prosperity and stability for both sets but also for the world economy”.
High Representative/Vice-President, Federica Mogherini, Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, and the Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, also participated in events held in the margins of the Summit. The EU-China Summit comes just a few weeks after the European Commission and the High Representative adopted a Joint Communication on elements for a new EU strategy on China.
