Meeting with DG Environment Director Astrid Schomaker on Industrial Priorities and Recommendations in Environmental Sector in China

2018-03-05 | Beijing

Upon coordination with Ms Vicky Pollard, First Counsellor of Environment and Climate Change, Delegation of the European Union to China and Mongolia, representatives from the Chamber’s Environment Working Group, Petrochemicals, Chemicals & Refining Working Group and Corporate Social Responsibility Forum attended the meeting with Ms. Astrid Schomaker, Director, Global Sustainable Development, Directorate-General for the Environment (DG Environment), European Commission (EC) and Mr. Bartosz Cieleszynski, Policy Officer, Bilateral & Regional Environmental Cooperation, DG Environment of EC, to present the priorities and key concerns recently from industrial perspective in the sector of environment.

Director Astrid Schomaker introduced the purposes of her visit to China this time, including attending the 9^th China-EU Bilateral Coordination Mechanism Meeting on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance organised by the State Administration of Forestry on combating against illegal logging and promoting timber legality for better enforcement of the timber regulations of the European Union (EU), meeting with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on negotiation of Memorandum of Understanding on circular economy and meeting with the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) on international practical cooperation projects in environmental protection along with the arrangement of 2018 EU-China ministerial-level dialogue on environment, followed by the briefings made by the chairs of Chamber’s relevant working groups, including the issues of public-private partnership model in China, EU-China cooperation on technology innovation, reform on state-owned enterprises, how to ensure the consistency, transparency, foreseeability and stability of government enforcement on environmental protection, chemical legislation system and management of new chemicals, influence of the new law on foreign non-governmental organisations as well as talent development in environmental sector. The expert on circular economy from the Environment Working Group was invited to comment on the stakeholder mapping on circular economy in China and the main challenges and opportunities for European business in China. And the representatives of Chamber’s Sustainable Trade Task Force also provided their insight and perspectives on current situation of EU-China sustainable trade, particularly the banning of foreign plastic waste to China as well as the phenomenon of factory shutting-down due to rigid enforcement on environmental protection. Director Astrid Schomaker agreed to follow up on these concerns during the meetings with NDRC and MEP. 

This meeting concluded with Mr Gianluca Ghiara, National Vice Chair of Environment Working Group, presenting the European Chamber 2017/2018 Position Paper to Director Astrid Schomaker.