Global Times recently reported that the European Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on the Anti-Coercion Instruments Act (ACI). The bill aims to prevent third countries from economically coercing the European Union and its member states through measures affecting trade or investment. French media quoted Bernd Lange, chairman of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament, as saying that ACI will prove to be a powerful deterrent to future economic coercion. “It’s not really a water gun – it’s a real gun,” he said. All these new measures are clearly intended as a last resort. The European Commission will first negotiate directly with the relevant third country to allow the other party to withdraw the coercive measures that have been implemented, or to demand compensation for losses. Many media believe that the United States and China are the targets of this EU bill. According to South China Morning Post, the proposal of the bill was not originally aimed at China, but to counter Trump’s imposition of tariffs on EU goods. However later, in the context of Lithuania’s trade with China being blocked because of the Taiwan issue, this bill once again received widespread attention within EU. Now as a unilateralist policy tools targeting China’s, the ACI Act has somewhat changed its original purpose. “Economic coercion” needs to formulate basic a definition acceptable to all parties. And it should obtain corresponding support at the level of international law and WTO rules. For example, on the issue of Lithuania, although the EU has lodged a complaint in WTO, it is difficult to get support. ACI has also been questioned within the EU. Some EU members are worried that ACI will turn EU towards protectionism and trigger a trade war. Europe should abandon its confrontational approach and actively cooperate with China.

Source: Global Times, March 29, 2023
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/4CHS9n14XCK

Xinhua recently reported that, as a “by-product” of the protracted Ukraine crisis, the European Union had to increase its energy dependency on the United States last year in order to make up for the huge energy gap caused by the sanctions on Russia. According to data released by Eurostat, the United States has replaced Russia as the largest crude oil supplier to the European Union, followed by Norway and Kazakhstan. As of December 2022, 18 percent of the EU’s imported crude oil came from the United States. This data represents a significant shift since, in the meantime, Russian crude oil accounts for 4 percent of total EU crude oil imports. However, many EU countries used to rely on Russia for energy. And the counterproductive effect of sanctions against Russia is becoming increasingly apparent. Energy shortages, soaring prices, and soaring living expenses have become common social problems. A senior official of the Russian government said that Russia has successfully transferred all oil exports affected by Western sanctions to “friendly countries”. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia’s oil exports to India increased by about 22 times in 2022, but he did not disclose the specific amount. However, Russia’s oil and gas output is expected to drop this year amid Western curbs and fewer European buyers.

Source: Xinhua, March 29, 2023
https://bit.ly/3m0xhiv