The fate of the European Union's investment deal with China fell further into doubt after an EU spokeswoman was forced to deny a report on Tuesday saying it had suspended the treaty's passage to ratification.
The French news agency AFP quoted EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis as saying in an interview: "We have ... for the moment suspended some efforts to raise political awareness on the part of the Commission because it is clear that in the current situation, with the EU sanctions against China and the Chinese counter-sanctions, including against members of the European Parliament, the environment is not conducive to the ratification of the agreement."
AFP's Twitter feed used the headline "#BREAKING EU suspends efforts to ratify China investment deal: commissioner", sparking debate among EU-China watchers, trade analysts and others on the social media network.
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But an EU spokeswoman said Dombrovskis's comments had been taken out of context.
Valdis Dombrovskis of Latvia is trade commissioner for the European Union. Photo: SOOC/Bloomberg alt=Valdis Dombrovskis of Latvia is trade commissioner for the European Union. Photo: SOOC/Bloomberg
The deal needs to be approved by the parliament but also the EU Council, which is made up of all 27 heads of state, before it can becomes law.
With dozens of members of the European Parliament being sanctioned by China in March in response to low-level EU sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, it seems unlikely to get the votes required in 2022.
Nonetheless, the depth of the opposition to the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) could be seen in the reaction to the suggestion that the EU was ready to kill it before it reached the parliament.
"Considering the frenzied lobbying of multinationals and the German government for the CAI, it's a huge victory!" tweeted Raphael Glucksmann, a French MEP sanctioned by China in March.
Hannah Neumann - a German MEP and a vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the entire membership of which was sanctioned - said that regardless of whether Dombrovskis had spoken out of context, the parliament would vote to take the decision out of the commission's hands in a motion that would see all debate on the CAI frozen until sanctions are lifted.