European Economic and Social Committee
Brussels, 3 December 2010
8th EU-China Round Table14-15 December, 2010
Brussels
Mid-term Evaluation Report on EU-China Round Table:
From A Perspective of CESC（Draft）
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Rapporteur:Zhu Yinghuang
Executive Member of CESC, Rapporteur of CESC Delegation
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1. Historyof Bilateral Relationsbetween CESC and EESC
In October 1996, the delegation of External Relations Unit (REX) of European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) visited China for the first time upon the invitation of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). In 1998, the Chinese counterpart sent a delegation to Europe for a return visit.
In July 2001, the China Economic and Social Council (CESC) was established. Since then, both parties have been frequently exchanging visits. The presidents of CESC and EESC, both being members of the International Association forthe Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions(AICESIS), met on several occasions, during which they discussed how to establish and develop cooperation and exchanges between the two organizations.
In July 2002, EESC President Goke Frerichs paid an official visit to China and signed a joint statement with CESC’s counterpart in Beijing.
In July 2003, CESC President Chen Jinhua visited EESC and both sides agreed to the establishment of a dialogue mechanism between CESC and EESC.
On December 8, 2004, the Joint Statement of the 7th EU-China Summit was adopted in Hague, the Netherlands, indicating, in Article 16: “Leaders hope EESC and CESC to build a dialogue mechanism between the citizens and social organizations of both sides in accordance with the memorandum signed by the persons in charge of both organizations in 2002”.
In June 2005, EESC President Anne Marie Sigmund visited China and inked the Supplementary Agreement on Strengthening Cooperation between CESC and EESC with her counterpart Wang Zhongyu, agreeing to build a president-level annual meeting mechanism and advance the establishment of a round table mechanism for both sides.
Between 2003 and 2006, the two sides increased their exchanges mainly in the form of working visits, investigation on some issues and seminars. All these helped to enhance mutual understanding and mutual trust and lay a solid foundation for establishing an exchange mechanism.
On September 9, 2006, the Joint Statement of the 9th EU-China Summit was adopted in Helsinki, Finland, indicating, in Article 35: “Leaders recognized the importance of a healthy and developing civil society for the sustainability of the reform process both in the EU and China. 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”.
In June 2007, the 1st EU-China Round Table was held in Beijing, marking the official launching of the EU-China round table mechanism.
2. Achievements of the EU-China Round Table
Since its launching in 2007, seven meetings of the EU-China Round Table have been successfully held. With efforts from both sides, the round table mechanism has seen gradual improvement and growing influence.
Topics for discussion have been expanded and deepened, ranging from economic issues to social issues (trade and investment→social responsibility→social dialogue; recycling industry→economic and social rights→ children’s rights), and further to environmental sector (sustainable development→climate change→forest carbon sink; sustainable development→water resource; sustainable development→green economy→recycling industry→waste treatment).
Both parties have reported the results, opinions and suggestions from each round table meeting to their relevant authorities. CESC has submitted the results, opinions and suggestions of each round table meeting to the leaders of CPPCC, the State Council and relevant authorities for their knowledge and as references for their decision-making.
After the 4th EU-China Round Table Meeting, both parties agreed, in addition to the original agenda, to add a half-day tripartite workshop jointly held with the host before or after the meeting.thus smoothly solving the disagreement at one point on inviting a “third party” to attend the round table.
The Joint Statement of the 4thEU-China Round Table proposed to establish a joint research group to study EU-China trade and investment issues. The group held its first seminar during the EU Commission Trade Day in the EU Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo this July and achieved positive results, which is a successful attempt of both sides to promote the implementation of the results achieved at the round table.
On May 18, 2009, CESC President Wang Gang and his counterpart Mario Sepi jointly signed the Agreement on Implementation of the EU-China Round Table Mechanism between the EESC and the CESC in China’s Tianjin, which gave positive assessment to the achievementsof the Round Table, reaffirmed and further clarified the role, mission, principles and operationalmechanism of the Round Table..
In September 2009, EESC President Mario Sepi led a delegation to China, mainly for a visit toLhasa of Tibet in a fact-finding mission for the actual conditions of the economic and social development there. The visit, which was arranged within the framework of the Round Table, was an extended activity related to the discussion of the economic and social rights at the round table meeting.
Theachievementsof the Round Table have won the endorsement of the leaders of China and EU. The joint statements of both the 10th (2007) and 12th (2009) EU-China Summit gave full approval to the round table and its achievements,encouraged both sides to continue the constructive dialogues and called for implementation of what had been achieved in the joint statements of theRound Table. The roundtable meetings have also won favourable comments from relevant institutions and departments from both sides.
3.The roleof the Round Table and CESC’s overall assessment
The EU-China Round Table is a regular mechanism for exchangesfocusing upon the key economic and social issues in China and in the European Union. It was set up with the concern and support from leaders of China and EU.It is a useful supplement to the political dialogue between Chinese and EU leaders and to the government-to-government dialogues. This mechanismconstitutes an important part of the EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership.
The EU-China Round Table has deepened the mutual understanding and mutual trust between participants from both sides. It has strongly promoted the communications and dialogues in the economic and social fields of both sides and helped to build up the social consensus and public support for the EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership. It has played a valuable role in promoting win-win cooperation between China and EU on the basis of equality and mutual trust.
Just as described in the Agreement on Implementation of the EU-China Round Table Mechanism, which was signed by presidents of both sides in 2009, “The Round Table Mechanism, part of EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership, will make positive contributions towardsa better understanding of the mutual concerns and priorities of the people of China and EU countries, and will reinforce their civil society’s dialogue.”
Various dialogue and exchange mechanisms have been established between China and EU. As one of them, the EU-China Round Table, having its own specialized working fields, should not and need not perform the duties and work which should be undertaken by the governments of both sides, nor should it replicate the existing dialogue mechanisms of other departments and institutions.
4. Characteristics and Experiences of the Round Table
Some valuable characteristics and experiencescan be summed up since the start of the Round Table four years ago.
(1) Unique characteristics:
Be Non-governmental: The EU-China Round Table mainly serves as an important platform for the exchanges and cooperation between organized civil society representatives of both sides and also as a two-way bridge linking the governments and citizens. The non-governmental dialogues and exchanges can often be more frank and more open in fully expressing opinions, thus playing an important role in strengthening mutual understanding and mutual trust of both sides.
Be Bilateral:The EU-China Round Table is a regular bilateral exchange mechanism between the CESC and the EESC. This mechanism of bilateral nature can better guarantee for the Round Table to achieve consensus and concrete results, as it is more operational, easier to focus on the issues of common concerns, resulting in more profound and fruitful discussions.This bilateral nature should continue to be a basic characteristic of the Round Table.
Be Interactive:It has been the practice of the Round Table that both sides will prepare reports on a certain topic which are submitted by the respective rapporteurs to the meeting for discussions participated by all participants. Another practice is that, in addition to the discussions at the meeting, arrangements are made for participants to make field visits to places or institutions for more observations on the issues related to the topics discussed. This has provided a good opportunity for the participants to have direct contacts with local citizens and learn more about the real situation. These practices have proved valuable in improving professionalism in topic discussions and in ensuring broad participation of representatives from both sides. This interactive nature of the Round Table is important for improving the quality and efficiency of the Round Table.
Be Inclusive:The Round Table is inclusive in many ways. The topics for discussion are chosen through bilateral consultation, and are often the key economic and social issues that both sides are concerned about.The participants include both representatives from a broad civil society and some expertson a special topic to be discussed.Discussions allow “seeking common ground while reserving differences”. The joint statements adopted after each meetingincorporateeach side’s concerns, featuring inclusiveness, balance, rationality and practicality.
(2) Experiences:
Equal consultation with mutual respect: Round Table is an important exchange and cooperation platform forged by CESC and EESC. At the beginning of the Round Table in 2007, we also met some problems in communication. Not only the issues concerning participants, topics, agenda and invitation to specially designated people outside of the two organizations required tough negotiations, but also the wording of the joint statementsneeded a lot of discussions.It is the spirit of mutual respect and equal consultation that has enabled us to overcome the obstacles, continuously improve the Round Table mechanism and reach more consensus and achievements.
Frank exchanges in the spirit of “Seeking common ground while reserving differences”:Due to the differences in historical and cultural backgrounds, political systems and development phases of the EU and China, representatives of both sides may have different views and stands on some issues. Sometimes disagreements are unavoidable. Under such circumstances, the prerequisite to advance exchange and cooperation is that both parties give full respect to the other’s historical and cultural traditions, and accordingly, the special economic and social development paths and political systems selected in line with the national conditions. It is all right to express different opinions so that we canlearn from each other through discussions based on mutual respect. But it is not right to impose one’s own opinion upon others. Experiences from the four-year development of EU-China Round Table tell us that when confronted with disputes or disagreement, we should conduct frank exchanges based on mutual respect and trust so that each side can better understand the other side and we can decrease differences and increase our common grand.
Learn from each other, sharing experiences and push forwad the progress gradually: The civil societies in China and in EU countries have gradually emerged and developed in accordance with their own respective national and social conditions, and have alldisplayed their own characteristics and accumulatedtheir own experiences. The history of the bilateral relations and the development of the Round Table mechanism to date havefully demonstrated that both sides can advance to a better future by learning from each other and sharing experiences on a equal footing and in the spirit of mutual respect. CESC has, through its three sessions to date, learneda lot in the organizationalconcept, structures and working procedures of the EESC and other members of the AICESIS which have had longer history and more experiences. Meanwhile, it is believed that the EESC has also learn something from the Round Table so that its members get a more comprehensive and objective understanding of China’s reality.
5. Some Principles and Suggestions
It has been proved that the EU-China Round Table can not only contribute to promoting the development of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, but can also provide some useful experiences for other members of the AICESIS in carrying out similar bilateral exchanges and cooperation. We should bear in mind the overall situation of China-EU relations and continuously improve our Round Table mechanism, hence the following suggestions:
(1) To enhance planning with a sense ofstrategic thinking.The Round Table is a China-EU regular exchange mechanism in economic and social fields, which was established according to the decision made in the joint statement of China-EU Summit, thus constituting a part of the EU-China relations. Bearing this in mind, both parties of the Round Table should be the advocator, practitioner and builder of the EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership. The Round Table should help improve the EU-China relations, and continue to improve its work with more strategic planning, pertinence and substantial results.
(2)To handle properly the key concerns of each other with a sense of inclusiveness.Better mutual understanding is from better communications.Mutual trust needs inclusiveness of different opinions.Since we are different in historical and cultural background, in political system and in development stage, we may have different perspectives and views on some issues, which is unavoidable. The most valuable part of the Round Table lies in the frank exchanges and inclusiveness of different opinions on the basis of mutual trust. The both parties should respect each other’s concerns, handle properly the differences and strive to enhance mutual understanding.
(3)To promote pragmatic cooperation with a sense of innovation.The world is changing, calling for continuous progress and innovative work of the China-EU Round Table.Both sides should work hard to explore new cooperative areas and achieve better cooperative results. The bilateral exchange mechanism, which has proved fruitful in the past four years, needs further improvement in its quality and efficiency.
We have herewith suggested several areas where improvements are needed and discussions are called for at this meeting:
How to improve the quality and efficiency of the Round Table meetings? In order to improve the quality of interactive discussions, we believe that composition of delegation members of each side shall remain generally stable to maintain its continuity, but when necessary,some experts in certain fields who are also members from the two organizations can be invited to attend the meetings. Opinions should also be solicited from such experts when the report on a certain topic is being drafted. Thus we can strike a right balance between professional views and general public opinions. Topics for discussion should be chosen more from urgent economic and social issues that both China and the EU countries are confronted with and that needs solutions, such as employment, reform of social security and medical care and integrated regional development and so on. Projects for field visit shall be relevant to the topics of the Round Table.
How to promote the follow-up work after the meeting?Various opinions and suggestions, in particular, some proposals on practical cooperation projects, have been written into the joint statements of the roundtable meetings, which is of significance in promoting pragmatic cooperation between China and EU. We should, in addition tosubmitting policy suggestions to relevant authorities and departments of both sides, consider how to promote and implement the follow-up work after some practical suggestions are made at the Round Table. We need to increase contacts and communications with the relevant authoritative bodies, institutions and some related enterprisesso that some feasible projects proposed by the Round Table can be carried out in practice.