A high-ranking member of the European Union’s diplomatic service said Wednesday that a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) with Taiwan was unnecessary for protecting the interests of investors from the 27-nation bloc.

Speaking during the “EU-Taiwan: Partners in a Changing World” seminar, European External Action Service Asia Pacific Managing Director Gunnar Wiegand said that stable conditions and a well-functioning legal system in Taiwan meant it was “rational” for the EU not to seek a BIA.

Describing calls for such an agreement as “political,” Wiegand argued that purely from the perspective of supporting EU companies — which are the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Taiwan — “we don’t necessarily need this [a BIA].”

He also noted that Taiwan, the multilateral bloc’s 12th largest trading partner in terms of goods, only accounted for 2 percent of FDI in the EU.

Weigand was responding to a proposal made earlier at the seminar by Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Roy Lee (??), in which he suggested initiating talks in less politically sensitive areas with the ultimate goal of reaching a BIA.

Lee said that despite talk for more than a decade of a Taiwan-EU BIA, no substantial process had been made so far.

“We fully understand the complexity of initiating a comprehensive review of Taiwan by the European Union, yet this shouldn’t prevent us from moving forward with new approaches,” Lee said.

As a possible interim solution, Lee proposed holding discussions on less politically charged areas, such as technical barriers and food safety and standardizations, a digital trade agreement, or an agreement on AI regulatory and standardization cooperation.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel