The European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs is to discuss a draft report on adding “Taipei” to the name of the EU’s representative office in Taipei, a source said.
European Parliament Member Charlie Weimers was “appointed as RAPPORTEUR on the first ever #EU-#Taiwan relations report,” the European Conservatives and Reformists political group wrote on Twitter on April 23.
In the draft report, Weimers referred to Taiwan as a “like-minded partner” of the EU, which “shares similar values of freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law.”
Weimers called China a “serious threat” to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and called on the EU to take action.
The draft report called on EU member countries to enhance official exchanges with Taiwan, including interactions at the highest levels of government.
In June, several European Parliament members said the committee on Wednesday might discuss a proposal to change the name of the European Economic and Trade Office to the “European Union Office in Taipei,” the source said.
In the draft report, the members proposed that before the end of the year the European Commission would conduct an impact assessment on establishing a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan, and called for the EU to engage in discussions with the international community about cooperating on the protection of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan should be included as a key partner in the EU’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, and the EU should call for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations including the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the report said.
National Taiwan University political science professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民) on Saturday said that Taiwanese should view the proposals with cautious optimism, since the European Parliament has no control over the EU budget, and it normally adopts legislation on the proposal of the European Commission.
As the members of the European Parliament are democratically elected, they could put some pressure on the heads of member states in terms of their political policy, he said.
The government should pursue closer ties with EU countries on the basis of the proposals, he added.
Additional reporting by Wu Su-wei
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