The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment: Critical Reflections

On 20 April 2021, Prof. Jan Wouters, professor of international law and international organizations at KU Leuven, Belgium will give an online lecture on some critical reflections of the recently concluded EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).

This lecture is a part of the guest lecture series organized under the research project EUPLANT: EU-China Legal and Judicial Cooperation, funded by the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Network. We cordially invite you as a participant to this online event.

About the lecture

On 30 December 2020 the EU and China concluded in principle the negotiations for the CAI. Under the CAI, China commits to a greater market access for EU investors, makes commitments to ensure fair treatment for European companies and agrees to provisions on sustainable development, including commitments regarding forced labor and a number of International Labor Organization Conventions. Civil society has reacted critically to the deal, pointing to the weakness of the aforementioned labor rights commitments. Some commentators see the deal as untimely, as it is said that it contains too many concessions to China and should have been concluded only after closer alignment with the US Biden administration. Also in the European Parliament, which has to give its consent to the CAI, critical comments have been uttered. The recent developments in Hong Kong and the increasing international criticism regarding the Uighur may further complicate the final conclusion of the CAI. In this lecture the pros and cons of the CAI will be presented and assessed critically.

Cost: free of charge
Additional information and registration: https://www.eur.nl/esl/evenementen/euplant-online-guest-lecture-2021-04-20