Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/20
By: Tang Pei-chun and Elizabeth Hsu
Brussels, Feb. 19 (CNA) The European Union will not rule out the possibility of signing a bilateral
Peter Berz (left)
investment agreement (BIA) with Taiwan, even though it upholds the “one China” policy, an EU official in charge of trade affairs in Asia said Tuesday.
The EU included Taiwan on its list of trade partners for BIAs in 2015, but since then, it has not held negotiations with Taipei on the issue, except to state in a trade policy report released in September 2017 that it was preparing to hold investment talks with Taiwan.
At a public hearing on EU-Taiwan trade relations held by the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA), Peter Berz of the European Commission responsible for trade links with the Far East, was asked by an attending parliamentarian if the reluctance to sign the BIA with Taiwan was the result of pressure from China.
Berz replied that although the EU adheres to the “one China” policy, it will not rule out the possibility of forging such an accord with Taiwan, adding that any such talks will require European Commission approval. [FULL STORY]
