European Union opens a new door opposite side Chinese in the World Trade Organization (WTO). dialogue with asian giant It hasn’t come to fruition in recent months, and the European Commission has chosen to make a formal request to the WTO. two arbitration panels resolving two disputes that have been hidden for months: the legality of Beijing’s months-long trade restrictions on Lithuania over the Baltic country’s relations with Taiwan; and protection of key technological European patents.
“At that time we chose to resolve these two important systemic differences through a consultation process and we spent a lot of time on this, but without success. We have no choice but to request the creation of these WTO panels”, he explained. Vice President between European Commission, Valdis Domvrovskis, in a communication. Brussels recognizes that China is an important trading partner of the EU, which brings clear economic benefits to both sides. But Europe has reached the limit of its patience. “Good partners treat each other with respect and must respect the principle of equal conditions. Therefore, when China violates world trade rules or exposes an EU Member State to economic pressure, it is our duty to defend our rights as it affects our internal market.”
European Commission, Beijing’s “discriminatory restrictions” Lithuania affects intra-EU trade and supply chains and affects the functioning of the EU internal market as they force market adjustments. Therefore, it considers it in economic and strategic interests to remove these measures for the EU, which estimates that trade from Lithuania has decreased by 80% since the Asian giant began implementing restrictions in December 2021. Since then, Chinese authorities have implemented discriminatory and coercive measures against exports from Lithuania and the export of EU products containing Lithuanian ingredients.
These include the refusal of Chinese customs authorities to import from Lithuania, import restrictions affecting multinational companies using Lithuanian components, and the reduction of Chinese exports to Lithuania. Lithuania. Also, using phytosanitary arguments, China suddenly completely banned the import of alcohol, beef, dairy products, firewood and peat from Lithuania. “When additional clarifications were requested, China was unable to justify these bans,” said Brussels about a conflict that relied on the opening of a Lithuanian diplomatic delegation in Taiwan, a region that Beijing claims sovereignty over.
technological patents
The second focus of the conflict, technological patents. Since August 2020, Chinese courts have passed rulings that prevent companies with high-tech patents from going to courts outside of China to protect their patents in China. key technologies aspect 5G. A policy that “unnecessarily limits” the ability of European companies to defend their rights. Insisting that it is the European courts to decide, the Commission denounced that “China’s action de facto deprives European high-tech companies of the possibility to enforce and enforce their patent rights in any court within the EU or outside of China”. On matters related to EU patents, not those of China.
Violation of the injunction chinese courts may result in fines. 130.000 Euro per day. The EU considers this measure to be in violation of the WTO’s Trade-Related Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), and that China unilaterally imposes rules that benefit its own companies through “anti-trial injunctions”. and to the detriment of the multilateral system. The European demand will now be discussed at the next meeting on 20 December. China can object to the creation of the panel only once. If it does, the EU will renew its request and the panel will be set up at the next meeting on 30 January 2023.