
1. April 2022: CONVINCING CHINA
No diplomatic tip-toeing: The European Parliament’s top trade lawmaker, Bernd Lange, said he expects the EU to drop all diplomatic pretense. “The summit will certainly get down to business — that is the clear plan, and the Chinese know it,” Lange told reporters ahead of the meeting. “This is not a summit of diplomacy.” At the same time, it’d be counterproductive to threaten China with punitive measures from the EU’s side, he said. [...]
The carrot: If China is to heed EU calls, it will certainly want something in return. Part of this could be an offer to remove some low-threshold trade barriers during a meeting in June if the summit goes well, Lange said Wednesday. [...]