Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-17-Speech-3-041"
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"en.20031217.3.3-041"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the embargo on the export of weapons to the People's Republic of China was adopted by the European Union in 1989 following the events in Tiananmen Square. The embargo permitted only exports not associated with repressive activities or with activities violating Human Rights, to be examined on a case-by-case basis.
China believes that the embargo is now out of date and that the level of cooperation in all sectors between China and Europe, as well as the rapid changes underway in the People's Republic of China, are such as to justify it being lifted. This fact is being more and more frequently and vehemently stressed on every possible occasion, both multilateral and bilateral, by our Chinese interlocutors, who have recently pinpointed the lifting of the embargo as a short- or medium-term priority in China’s relations with the European Union.
From the point of view of the implications, were the embargo against China to be lifted, the European Code of Conduct would, in any case remain applicable, the result being that, in reality, weapons exportation would not vary substantially.
The matter of the possible lifting of the embargo has, in recent months, been discussed in the European Union but consensus has not been reached on whether this revision is appropriate. The European Union acknowledges that, between 1989 and today, the political situation in China has evolved significantly and that important changes have taken place in the European Union's relations with China, including the quality of political dialogue. Indeed, with the establishment of the EU-China Dialogue on Human Rights, an important vehicle has been created in which both sides can exchange opinions and develop projects aimed at fostering tangible improvements.
Furthermore, and the Chinese are placing particular emphasis on this, the Chinese Government underwent a complete change at the Party Congress held last year and today's leaders declare that they had nothing to do with the events of Tiananmen Square. Nevertheless, from the standpoint of the European Union, whose public opinion still vividly recalls the events in Tiananmen Square, the issue is considered highly sensitive since serious problems relating to respect for human rights persist in China. Indeed, economic liberalisation and the country's gradual integration into the international community are not being accompanied by similar political liberalisation and China still has a long way to go before reaching the human rights standards considered normal in our societies.
The Union's policy on the matter is under intense scrutiny and non-governmental organisations and public opinion expect tangible results. Moreover, it should also be pointed out that Beijing has rejected the idea of making the lifting of the embargo dependent on tangible progress in human rights. In any case, the necessary conditions for lifting the embargo are not yet in place in the European Union: this was clearly explained to our Chinese counterpart during the recent European Union-China Summit.
It is, moreover, clear that there are differing positions within the European Union on the subject and, in particular, on the stance to be taken in the face of repeated requests from the Chinese. The matter will therefore have to be further discussed in depth in the future. Decisive impetus has been supplied in this regard by the European Council of 12 December 2003, which called on the General Affairs and External Relations Council to review the question."@en1
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