Discours Dimitriadis Chine

1st meeting of the EU-China Round Table

SPEECH by Mr Dimitris Dimitriadis Co-chair of the EU-China Round Table President of the European Economic and Social Committee ______

Beijing, China, 22 June 2007

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EN Mr President Excellencies Ladies and gentlemen

It is a great honour for me to be with you on the occasion of the 1st meeting of the EU-China Civil Society Round Table. I am very fortunate to be, for the current mandate, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee and consequently the first EU co-chair of this new Round Table.

I am particularly pleased to share the chairmanship with President Wang Zhongyu, a qualified and respectable leader in China.

However, firstly, I would like to express some comments on your fascinating country. I am a businessman and figures are important for me and even more so when they apply to economics. I would like to remind you in that we are witnessing in China the fastest economic transformation the world has ever seen. China's economy has been growing at around 9 per cent a year for two decades and its share of global GDP has raised ten fold. This has powered China’s emergence at the heart of the global economy and the international trading system.

China today welds more steel, pours more concrete and burns more coal than any country in the world. Twenty years ago, Europe traded almost nothing with China. Today, China is Europe’s single largest source of manufactured goods. By the end of this decade, China will be the largest exporter of the world.

This transformation is impressive, but not without danger and potential tensions internationally and internally. This is why we believe dialogue needs to be developed at all levels between China and its partners and within China itself. In this context, the creation of our Round Table is an important step in the right direction. I would not presume compare the speed of China’s development to the development of our dialogue but, I believe, we can be proud of our achievement. Let me remind you that our first official contact took place in 2002 when President Frerichs led a EESC delegation to China. I remember very well this visit as I was, at the time, a young co-rapporteur of the opinion we were drafting on EU-China relations. In the context of that visit our presidents signed a declaration in which it was stated both sides’ willingness "to engage in consultations, dialogue and research on economic and social issues of common interest as well as issues related to human rights and the rule of law".

We then established a good working relation and signed in 2005 an additional agreement asking for more intense relations and calling for the EU-China Summit to set up a bilateral Civil Society Round Table.

We have been heard. As you know, the Joint Statement of the ninth EU- China Summit states:

"Leaders were of the view that the exchanges and cooperation between the China Economic and Social Council (CESC) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) constituted a part of the relationship. To reinforce existing ties, they endorsed and encouraged the establishment of a regular roundtable to contribute to the enrichment and development of the EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership."

And here we are with this exciting challenge to meet twice a year in order to discuss issues of crucial importance for EU-China relations. I do not expect our task to be easy. We have to get to know each others and we have to develop a better understanding of each others. The discussion we had on the terms of references of this Round Table showed that our road will be paved with difficulties. But it is for us to overcome these difficulties, develop a trustful working relation and bring a useful contribution to EU-China relations." The creation of our Round Table is, as a matter of fact, very timely. As you know, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner visited Beijing last January to launch negotiations for a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and China. The new PCA will encompass the full scope of bilateral relations, including enhanced co-operation in political matters.

As Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner rightly put it : "Twenty years ago, the EU and China were trading partners. Now we are strategic partners with a huge range of co-operation activities."

I believe our Round Table has an important role to play in that context. We will monitor these negotiations very closely and bring forward our contributions on the basis of our joint expertise.

Indeed, this is already what we are doing today by addressing the two issues of sustainable development and climate change.

As you know, the issue of sustainable development was discussed thoroughly in the two international conferences which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and in Johannesburg in 2002. The Johannesburg conference adopted an impressive final document with high ambitions but we need to acknowledge that the implementation and the follow-up still need to be improved. In Europe, we take this issue very seriously and our Committee set up a Sustainable Development Observatory that will monitor the EU Policies from this point of view.

I know China is also very much concerned with the issue, although you prefer to use the term 'harmonious development'. China’s policy makers and leaders have several times recognised that their country's rapid economic change is resulting in huge social and environmental challenges.

I am therefore looking forward to our exchange of views on this topic as this is an issue where citizens, civil society organisations are primarily concerned. This is also the case of our second topic on the agenda: climate change. I specifically requested this topic to be on the agenda of our first meeting; I made 'climate change' the priority of my presidency as I join all those who consider the topic to be the most important challenge facing the European Union and the entire planet over the coming years and decades.

Climate change will have an impact among on many areas: on infrastructure, energy supply, agriculture, forestry and fishery, industry, air quality water use and health, but the scale of those consequences is still under discussion.

I am convinced that the EU needs to develop its cooperation with as many countries as possible and especially with the emerging countries. Climate change is, by definition, an international issue which needs to be discussed with our partners. China is certainly one of our main partners to conduct these talks with. A country that builds a new coal-fired power station every week has obviously a global role in fighting climate change. A country whose massive appetite for energy is shaping the geopolitics of Asia and reaching into Africa must be part of a global dialogue on energy supply and sustainable development.

I know that China is willing to contribute to the fight against climate change. Your leaders made this very clear once again a few days before the G8 Summit in Germany.

We therefore share common interests and responsibilities in fighting climate change, and notably in ensuring the security and sustainability of energy supplies, improving efficiency and mitigating the impact of energy production. A dialogue between China and the EU is already well engaged on this issue. But I also know we have different views and that we need to talk about them openly and thoroughly.

The Round Table is able, willing and committed to contribute to this debate. Our members are experts, practitioners who all have a useful field expertise. Ladies and gentlemen, let me once again reiterate my satisfaction to be with you today. I wish our Round Table to be successful and to become an essential element in the framework of EU China relations. I hope that we will develop a mutual understanding and knowledge and openly discuss our differences in views. Let me finish by quoting Confucius:

Do not worry if people fail to recognise your merits; Worry that you may not recognise theirs

I think we could all be inspired by this thought. I thank you very much for your attention.

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