The European Union members should have a unified position on their cooperation with China to achieve success, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said Thursday, following reports of Italy preparing to endorse a Chinese infrastructure initiative
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) The European Union members should have a unified position on their cooperation with China to achieve success, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said Thursday, following reports of Italy preparing to endorse a Chinese infrastructure initiative.Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development Michele Geraci told the Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday that Rome was planning to sign a memorandum of understanding to back China's Belt and Road program by the end of March. The initiative involves infrastructure projects in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
"Neither the European Union, nor any of the member states can effectively achieve their aims with China without full unity. All member states individually and within subregional cooperation framework, such as the 16+1 format [16 central and eastern European countries and China] have a responsibility to ensure consistency with the EU law rules and policies, and to respect the EU unity in implementing EU policies," Maja Kocijancic told reporters, when asked if the European Union had a common position on China's initiative.
She added that the European Union was working with China "on its One Belt, One Road initiative on the basis of China fulfilling its declared aim of making it an open platform which adheres to the market rules, the EU and international requirements and standards."
In September, the European Union presented its own connectivity strategy for infrastructure linking Europe and Asia.
