Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in support of an Investment Agreement between the European Union and the Peoples Republic of China
ETUC referred to their study on the investment negotiations with China httpswwwetucorgpublicationschina-investment-policy-consequences-workersVta9JPnhDcs
Independent Retail Europe indicated that their members find the Chinese market relatively open for retailers So far they have never had complaints from any of their members present in China concerning accessibility of the Chinese market
Ecorys thanked Independent Retail Europe for sharing this information with the study team
FTA requested to be included in the stakeholder list They indicated that they do not have comments on the inception report but would like to comment at later stage on the economic and sustainable development impacts They also referred to a recent study conduct by CEPS an impact assessment of a possible EU-China free trade agreement
Ecorys answered that they will include FTA in the stakeholder list and thanked FTA for referring to the study conducted by CEPS
Ecorys thanked Transitiegroep Stroopwafel for its feedback and indicated that they will share it with the human rights expert
FIDH FIDH requested more information about the upcoming workshop and indicated that they found the dissemination of the workshop very poor as it was only displayed on the website
Ecorys indicated that stakeholders have received a ldquosave the daterdquo notification for the workshop via email which is indeed also displayed on the website The study team is finalising the last details for the workshop afterwards stakeholders will be invited via email and all information will be available on the website and the other social media tools
The EESC had a look at the stakeholder list and indicated that they were missing EPRA the European Public Real Estate Association based in Brussels
648 Not all emails are included in this table as some are only an indication of stakeholders not attending the workshop a request to be removed from the stakeholder list or a request to be included in the stakeholder list
Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in support of an Investment Agreement between the European Union and the Peoples Republic of China
236 I November 2017
Organisation Email received Response Ecorys study team
They indicated that they are currently not aware of any events relevant to the study or The Investment Agreement
FIDH FIDH indicated that they will forward the workshop information to other stakeholders interested in human rights issues
Ecorys answered that they would appreciate this
China-Britain Business Council
China-Britain Business Council requested more information about the stakeholder workshop in order to share it on their website
Ecorys shared the information and indicated that they very much appreciated this
European Construction Industry Federation
They asked why construction was not selected as one of the sectors for in-depth analysis and whether it was relevant for them to attend the stakeholder workshop
Ecorys referred to the inception report where the sector selection and screening and scoping exercise where conducted Regarding the workshop Ecorys indicated that there will be no separate session on construction but that the European Construction Industry Federation was always welcome to share their thoughts regarding any of the other sectors studies or the sustainable development chapters
Business Europe Business Europe asked when the workshop presentation would be online
Ecorys indicated that workshop presentation was now available on the website and that a short meeting report would follow shortly
ACEA ACEA suggested some improvements regarding their statements made in the workshop meeting report
Ecorys indicated that they have adjusted the meeting report
UNIFE Request to share a PDF version of the stakeholder survey so that they can better prepare the questions
Ecorys shared a PDF version of the survey but requested them to still fill in the survey via check market and not via the PDF since this would make it harder to process the inputs
European Economic and Social Committee
The EESC indicated that they are a European Body and can therefore not fill in the survey for either business or social associations They asked whether it was possible to adapt the survey for a wider range of stakeholders
Ecorys shared the link the general survey which is available for stakeholders who do not represent a company business social human rights or environmental organisation
Independent Retail Europe
Independent Retail Europe indicated that even though some of their members invest in China they do not cover this issue for their members
Starch Europe Request to share a PDF version of the stakeholder survey
Ecorys shared a PDF version of the survey but requested them to still fill in the survey via check market and not via the PDF since this would make it harder to process the inputs
Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in support of an Investment Agreement between the European Union and the Peoples Republic of China
November 2017 I 237
Organisation Email received Response Ecorys study team
Austrian Federal Economic Chamber
Request to share a PDF version of the stakeholder survey
Ecorys shared a PDF version of the survey but requested them to still fill in the survey via checkmarket and not via the PDF since this would make it harder to process the inputs
EFPIA Request to share a PDF version of the stakeholder survey
Ecorys shared a PDF version of the survey but requested them to still fill in the survey via checkmarket and not via the PDF since this would make it harder to process the inputs
BDI ndash Federation of German Industries
Request to share a PDF version of the stakeholder survey
Ecorys shared a PDF version of the survey but requested them to still fill in the survey via checkmarket and not via the PDF since this would make it harder to process the inputs
MEDEF Request to share a PDF version of the stakeholder survey
Ecorys shared a PDF version of the survey but requested them to still fill in the survey via checkmarket and not via the PDF since this would make it harder to process the inputs
MEDEF They pointed out a small mistaketypo in the stakeholder survey
Ecorys thanked them for spotting this and corrected the mistaketypo
Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie eV
The stakeholder survey did not seem to have stored their full answers They have sent their full answers via email
Ecorys thanked for this and indicated that they will take their full answers into account when analysing the survey outcomes
Eurofer They asked whether it was possible to have a print out of their answers to the survey before submitting in order to share with their members
Ecorys answered that it is not possible the print out their answers before submitting Ecorys shared a pdf version of the survey questions so they could consult with their members
CEFIC They had problems with accessing the stakeholder survey
Ecorys shared the link to the stakeholder survey via mail
DIHK - Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag eV
They shared their position paper and answers to the survey
Ecorys thanked for the input
European Association of Chemical Distributors (Fecc)
Request to share a PDF version of the stakeholder survey
Ecorys shared a PDF version of the survey but requested them to still fill in the survey via checkmarket and not via the PDF since this would make it harder to process the inputs
Eurocord They indicated that one of the links on the SIA China website incorrect
Ecorys thanked for spotting this and has corrected the mistake
Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in support of an Investment Agreement between the European Union and the Peoples Republic of China
238 I November 2017
Organisation Email received Response Ecorys study team
Euroalliages They asked whether the presentation of the second civil society dialogue meeting will be posted online
Ecorys indicated that the presentation would be available one day after the meeting
ACEA Provided feedback on the draft Interim Report It concerned a rephrasing of their input from the stakeholder workshop
Ecorys thanked for their feedback and indicated that they will adjust the section accordingly
Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag - DIHK eV
Provided feedback on the draft Final Report Their feedback concerned the BITs and ICS human rights analysis and the recommendations
Ecorys thanked for their feedback and indicated that they will take it into account when revising the Final Report
Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in support of an Investment Agreement between the European Union and the Peoples Republic of China
November 2017 I 239
Annex C Minutes Civil Society Dialogue
CIVIL SOCIETY DIALOGUE
MEETING ON SUSTAINABLE IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN SUPPORT OF AN INVESTMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
EUROPEAN UNION AND THE PEOPLErsquoS REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Date 2nd of October 2017 Time 1500-1700 Location Charlemagne building Room Sicco Mansholt 170 Rue the la Loi Brussels
Lead speakers European Commission Ms Alexandra Koutoglidou (AK) - DG TRADE Investment Unit Ecorys Ms Nora Plaisier (NP) ndash Team leader Ms Marleen Rueda (MR) ndash Social expert Dr Evgueni Poliakov (EP) ndash Environmental expert Dr Michael Fuenfzig (MF) ndash Economic expert Ms Corine Besseling (CB) ndash Project coordinator Moderator Ms Eeva Tella (ET) ndash DG TRADE Information Communication and Civil Society Unit Panel Presentation The Commission (AK) presented the scope of the negotiations for the Investment Agreement between the EU and China as well as the state of play of the negotiations She underlined this is an investment agreement which is different from a free trade agreement The negotiations cover amongst others investment market access and protection licenses and authorization requirements transparency sustainable development and Dispute Settlement arrangements The EU is proposing the investment court system and a state-to-state dispute settlement system similar to an FTA The negotiations were launched in November 2013 and the first round of negotiations took place in January 2014 Since then 14 negotiation rounds have taken place The 15th negotiation round will take place in Beijing next week An additional round is scheduled for December 2017 The parties are still at the stage of text-based negotiations No specific sectors are being discussed yet although there are discussions on horizontal issues applying to all sectors There is no exchange of market access offers yet Ecorys presented the draft final report See the slides for more information about the content of the presentation
Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in support of an Investment Agreement between the European Union and the Peoples Republic of China
240 I November 2017
Discussion Highlights Questions and Replies The European External Action Service (EEAS) asked for more clarification regarding the stakeholder consultations in China It would be useful to have a list of social and human rights stakeholders that were interviewed Ecorys (CB) replied that many of the Chinese stakeholders interviewed cooperated with the SIA team on an anonymous basis EEAS had a remark on recommendation 7 in particular regarding representativeness of trade unions It should be noted that there is only one trade union in China Furthermore the SIA suggests creating bodiesmechanisms on gender and human rights (recommendation 13) It should be noted that there are existing EU-China structures in place for example there is a gender working group based in Beijing It is not clear whether the SIA team would like to recommend the creation of subgroups that will specifically work on the issues raised in the report or if new structures should be put in place Ecorys (MR) answered that the SIA team is aware of the trade unions issue In the report a word of caution is included that the effectiveness of the mechanisms depends on the independency of the organisations It also notes that existing mechanisms can be used Recommendations will be further clarified in the final version of the SIA report The Deutscher Industrie-und Handelskammertag referred to the replacement of the current ISDS mechanisms from the existing BITs by the ICS The question is what the impact will be of this replacement The second question is if the Commission is sure that the Chinese government will accept the ICS proposal The Commission (AK) replied that the EU is proposing the ICS in line with current EU policy China has followed closely the debate in Europe and the concerns that have been expressed The counterparts are aware of the importance of the ICS for the EU
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doi 10278118076
NG
-05-17-210-EN-N
- Table of Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Abstract
- Executive summary
-
- Context and objective
- Approach and conceptual framework
- Background to the EU-China Investment Agreement
- Under the EUrsquos reformed approach on investment protection the EU also proposes a distinct provision on the right to regulate which reaffirms the capacity of states to adopt measures in pursuit of public policy objectives these provisions might prov
- Economic impacts
- Social impacts
- Human rights impacts
- Environmental impacts
- In-depth sector studies
-