The criminal charges brought against activist Valentina Cherevatenko, a leader in the NGO “Union of Women of Don”, represent the first criminal case opened under the “foreign agents” law in Russia.

The practice of declaring NGOs as “foreign agents” restricts civil society and impedes the exercise of fundamental freedoms.

Ms Cherevatenko’s outstanding work on human rights education, peace building, and humanitarian issues is well-known and widely appreciated.

Commissioner Vestager, responsible for competition policy, commented: “Decisions by one country to grant a subsidy to a company that operates globally may affect competition elsewhere. The European Commission is pleased to start a discussion with China on how to best handle state intervention in the economy.”

The State aid dialogue creates a mechanism of consultation, cooperation and transparency between China and the EU in the field of state aid control.

The dialogue will be used to share with China the European experience in enforcing state aid control. It will also be used to learn more about the implementation of the newly adopted Fair Competition Review in China, which is designed to prevent public policies from distorting and restricting competition while maintaining fair market competition and promoting a unified market.

This new State aid cooperation dialogue will further the EU’s and China’s mutual interest and joint work to promote fair global competition. It is part of the Commission’s broader strategy to address the distortion that national subsidies policies put on the promotion of a global level playing field where companies can compete on their merits.

The European Union has a strong interest in promoting fair and competitive markets globally and to this end, it welcomes the adoption of the Fair Competition Review System and looks forward to working with China in this context.

China is the world’s third largest economy and the EU’s second trading partner. The EU is China’s biggest trading partner.

The dialogue will be supported by cooperation with working groups at technical level and is due to take place at least once a year, alternating between Brussels and Beijing.

Background

The European Commission has been cooperating closely with competition authorities of countries outside the EU for many years.

At bilateral level, the Commission has engaged in a wide range of cooperation activities with competition authorities in a number of third countries on the basis of agreements or memoranda of understanding. Moreover, in its Free Trade Agreements negotiations, the Commission is also negotiating a Competition Chapter which provides rules and disciplines on both antitrust, mergers and subsidies.

In addition, the Commission participates actively in the competition-related activities of a number of multilateral organisations such as the International Competition Network (ICN), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), UNCTAD, the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The main objective of this cooperation at both levels is to promote convergence of competition policy instruments and practices across jurisdictions, with the exchange of views on broader policy and enforcement issues and the facilitation of cooperation with competition authorities in other jurisdictions in enforcement activities.

More information on the Commission’s website.

The EU and China agreed today to formally publish a list of two hundred European and Chinese geographical indications -100 from each side- that will be considered for protection through a bilateral agreement to be concluded in 2017.

This publication opens the process for protecting the listed products against imitations and usurpations and is expected to result in reciprocal trade benefits and increased consumers’ awareness and demand for high-quality products on both sides.

The EU list of products to be protected in China includes products like Bayerisches Bier, Feta, Queso Manchego, Champagne, Gorgonzola and Polska Wódka while among the Chinese products aspiring to obtain geographical indications status in the EU we can find for example Yantai Ping Guo (Yantai apple), Hengxian Mo Li Hua Cha (Hengxian jasmine tea), Panjin Da Mi (Panjin rice) and Baise Mang Guo (Baise Mango). The publication of these lists is part of the standard procedure and opens a period for interested parties to present their comments.

The Chinese market for agri-food products is one of the world’s largest, and is getting larger every year, fuelled by a growing middle class population that has a taste for European food and drink products, often as a result of their international travels. The country also has a rich tradition of geographical indications of its own, many of which are still largely unknown to European consumers but which should now become more widely available thanks to the agreement.

European Commissioner for agriculture, Phil Hogan, said today: “Our EU geographical indication products are a real success story, with growing global sales worldwide. Consumers all around the world trust in our Geographical Indication classification system – this means that they trust the origin and quality of the products, and are willing to pay a higher price for the products, thus a higher premium for the farmer. Working closely with our global trading partners such as China is a win: it benefits our farmer and agri-businesses; it develops stronger trading relationships between like-minded operators; and of course, it benefits consumers on both sides of the agreement.”

EU-China cooperation on geographical indications began over 10 years ago and led to the protection of 10 GIs names on both sides under EU and Chinese legislation. Building on this initial cooperation, in 2010 the EU and China started to negotiate a bilateral agreement on cooperation on, and protection of, geographical indications. The first step of this process is the publication of the two lists of 100 products from each side that the other will protect in their territory once the agreement enters into force.

Interested parties now have two months to comment on the products selected by both parties and, if necessary, raise any concerns with either the EU or Chinese authorities.

Geographical indications are one of the great successes of European agriculture, with over 3300 EU names registered. A further 1250 or so non-EU names are also protected within the EU, mostly thanks to bilateral agreements such as this one with China. In value terms, the market for EU geographical indications is around €54.3 billion, and together they account for 15% of total EU food and drinks exports.

For more information

Joint statement of the Commission and the government of the People’s Republic of China

List of European geographical indications published

List of Chinese geographical indications published

EU agricultural product quality policy

EU-China Geographical Indications – “10 plus 10” project