Germany and France want to give EU powers against China

BERLIN, October 5 - RIA Novosti. Germany and France want to give the EU powers to limit China's participation in the pan-European market, including by giving the EC the right to expeditiously withdraw Chinese companies from the market, the Handelsblatt newspaper writes, citing diplomats and senior officials.

“Germany and France want to give the EU broad new powers to strengthen its position in the trade dispute with China. In particular, it is proposed to give the European Commission the right to expeditiously exclude Chinese companies from the European internal market,” the publication says.

According to Handelsblatt, Germany and France see the move as a preventive measure in case China, in response to planned EU measures to protect European industry, restricts the export of critical raw materials.

Berlin and Paris expect that excluding companies from the market will be a last resort, the publication notes. Germany and France expect that the very signal of readiness to take a radical step will push China to make trade concessions and avoid the use of the exclusion mechanism in practice.

The publication writes that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron will present their demands in a joint document ahead of the EU summit, which will be held from October 15 to 16.

According to the newspaper, the European Commission is already working on trade measures against China. Senior EU officials say EC President Ursula von der Leyen may announce them during the summit.