Abstract
As members to the WTO agreement and as signatories of the bilateral agreements, the EU and the US have to help China to comply with its commitments, but they also have the obligation of monitoring the advancement of legislative review and the application of the transparency requirements. The monitoring and enforcement obligations of trade agreements are a demanding task with technical complexity requiring a very high level of expertise. This is more than true with China because of its premature accession to the WTO, its vast territory and several years of gradual decentralization in favour of localities. The EU has demonstrated that it is ready to consider taking an aggressive approach toward China, under specific conditions and if other methods fail. The EU is prepared to introduce safeguard measures and quotas to protect EU companies when Chinese imports are the cause of material damage or might cause material damage to EU industry. It is surely important for the EU to protect its enterprises, but safeguard measures should be considered a temporary solution because they do not facilitate the good trade relations between the EU and China. The EU has to try to prevent problems instead of intervening at the very last moment, when the situation has become critical for EU companies. It is necessary for the EU to begin demanding more and more respect of all the WTO principles and in particular the transparency principles. In this way, by exploiting all the internal and international means, it is possible to help and convince China to comply with the WTO commitments, to open its system for generating market access opportunities for European companies.
Full PaperPaolo Davide Farah
Founder, President and Director
Professor Paolo Davide Farah is Founder, President and Director of gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives forSustainable Development, Full Professor(with tenure) at West Virginia University, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences,John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics, Department of Public Administration and “Internationally Renowned Professor/Distinguished Professor of Law” (Full Professor level) at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Law School, Beijing, China.
Summary
As members to the WTO agreement and as signatories of the bilateral agreements, the EU and the US have to help China to comply with its commitments, but they also have the obligation of monitoring the advancement of legislative review and the application of the transparency requirements. The monitoring and enforcement obligations of trade agreements are a demanding task with technical complexity requiring a very high level of expertise. This is more than true with China because of its premature accession to the WTO, its vast territory and several years of gradual decentralization in favour of localities. The EU has demonstrated that it is ready to consider taking an aggressive approach toward China, under specific conditions and if other methods fail. The EU is prepared to introduce safeguard measures and quotas to protect EU companies when Chinese imports are the cause of material damage or might cause material damage to EU industry. It is surely important for the EU to protect its enterprises, but safeguard measures should be considered a temporary solution because they do not facilitate the good trade relations between the EU and China. The EU has to try to prevent problems instead of intervening at the very last moment, when the situation has become critical for EU companies. It is necessary for the EU to begin demanding more and more respect of all the WTO principles and in particular the transparency principles. In this way, by exploiting all the internal and international means, it is possible to help and convince China to comply with the WTO commitments, to open its system for generating market access opportunities for European companies.
