European Parliament removes curbs on lawmaker meetings with China

The European Parliament has lifted restrictions on lawmakers meeting some Chinese officials, in a fresh indication of a potential thaw in EU-China ties.

The recommendations were introduced in April 2023 as a follow up to a sanctioning blitz in 2021, when the sides traded blows in a row over alleged human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.

The guidelines, which covered both China and Iran, stated that “official counterparts (parliamentarians) will not be invited to visit the European Parliament” and that there would be no “official missions” to the countries while sanctions remain in place, “unless the mission includes at least one member” who has been sanctioned.

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Furthermore, they instructed that bilateral contacts with officials should be “limited to office holders and parliament’s services should be notified”. Meetings at multilateral forums were also meant to be notified.

However, the harder-line posture began to crack at a meeting with senior lawmakers last month, when European Parliament President Roberta Metsola proposed that the measures be withdrawn. Restrictions on meeting officials from Russia and Belarus remain in place.

A European Parliament spokesperson confirmed the change, saying that the “non-binding guidelines regarding contacts with some third country representatives were issued at a very specific time and context”.

“The aim was to provide clarity to MEPs in the last parliament at a time when a complete overhaul of EP internal rules were under way (on missions, declaration of meetings and access to buildings, etc),” the spokesperson said.

“New, more robust and transparent, internal rules” introduced in November 2024 meant that “the guidelines have become superfluous and could even cause confusion”, she explained.

“The new rules in place for MEPs ensure stronger and binding reporting requirements with regard to meetings with any representatives of the countries concerned, even subject to sanctions.”

The new code of conduct “obliges members to publish all scheduled meetings, also when delegated to their assistants, with interested representatives falling under the Transparency Register and with representatives of public authorities of third countries”.

They are now also obliged to “declare their attendance at events organised by third parties, where the reimbursement of their travel, accommodation, or subsistence expenses, or the direct payment of such expenses, is fully or partly covered by a third party”.

In something of a triumph for Beijing, which has been long pushing for better ties with the parliament, there is no longer any specific guidance on China.

Separate restrictions on meeting officials from Qatar and Morocco – which have been embroiled in corruption scandals involving the parliament – have also been removed. However, in response to questions from the Post, the spokesperson said parliament is reviewing whether to guidance on China and Iran is needed.

After China sanctioned MEPs in March 2021, parliament refused to ratify an EU-China investment pact, effectively putting the proposed accord into a deep freeze.

Beijing has since been looking for ways to unlock that deal, which would likely require sanctions to be lifted first. In recent meetings in Brussels and Munich with lawmakers and academics that were subject to those sanctions, Chinese officials past and present have revived their requests for mutual removal.

Whereas in the past they proposed a simultaneous elimination of the sanctions, they now propose something asymmetrical: China would lift four or five sanctions for every one lifted by the European side, given that Beijing put dozens on its list, while there are only five on Europe’s.

The parliament’s change may also reflect the rapidly shifting state of geopolitical alliances. Following the return of US President Donald Trump, the transatlantic relationship has frayed to a degree not seen in decades.

The United States has switched its support to Russia in its war against Ukraine, this week deciding to stop sharing intelligence with Kyiv, a move that would severely hamper its efforts to target Moscow’s forces. He has also declared a trade war on Europe and threatened a barrage of tariffs.

To this backdrop, there has been a softening in tone towards China from even Europe’s most hawkish quarters. In two high profile speeches, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc could deepen trade and investment ties with Beijing, even suggesting that new agreements could be reached.

China, for its part, has embarked on a “charm offensive” in Europe. Diplomats have travelled through capitals making a pitch for jointly upholding the multilateral order, pointing to the wrecking ball taken to the status quo by Trump.

Even Beijing’s hardliners have adopted a conciliatory tone in an effort to peel the bloc away from Washington.

“When you look at how the Trump administration has implemented a brazen and domineering policy towards Europe, treating its allies in this way, honestly, from a European perspective, it’s quite appalling,” China’s special envoy for European affairs Lu Shaye said on the sidelines of top advisory body the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing on Wednesday.

In his previous role as China’s ambassador to France, Lu embraced the tag of “wolf warrior” diplomat, finding himself summoned to the French foreign ministry on seven separate occasions.

More from South China Morning Post:

• Your best friend has abandoned you: inside China’s latest EU charm offensive
• ‘Next-level urgency’: EU leaders spring into action as reality of US pivot to Russia hits
• EU trade chief plans China visit amid soaring tensions with Donald Trump

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