European Tour 2013 Go back »
2013-10-16 | All chapters
Following the official launch of the European Business in China Position Paper on 5th September, a Chamber delegation, composed of 34 people and led by President Davide Cucino, visited Brussels from 16th to 18th September. This continues the tradition of annual visits to Brussels and other European capitals and cities in order to present this important document to senior figures from EU Member States. This year the delegation had over 80 meetings in 14 cities. The objective of these meetings is to ensure that the Chamber's most important messages are heard and understood by key figures in Europe in the fields of politics, business, media and academia.
The growing importance of the Position Paper continues to improve the level of access we gain to government officials: this year the Chamber delegation met with European Commission President, José Manuel Durão Barroso, for the second consecutive year, and four Vice Presidents of the Commission.
The delegation also met with the European External Action Service, the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments and the European Council for the first time. The visit to Brussels was also very timely in that the Chamber was able to present the main key findings to the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament before the vote on the EU-China Investment Agreement. Between September and November, the Chamber visited 20 cities in different member states.
President Davide Cucino said “I am proud of the further expansion of our 2013 European Tour, both in terms of the access we received in the EU institutions in Brussels, as well as the extended outreach to the different Member States to which Chamber representatives travelled as part of the tour. Representatives of the Chamber visited a total of 20 cities in the EU, including Paris, London and Berlin, as well as newer EU Member States’ capitals such as Tallinn, Riga and Ljubljana where meetings were held with government ministries, business associations and stakeholders. This expansion is an important initiative to increase awareness of the Chamber’s recommendations and to thereby further support European Member States to speak with one aligned voice in their respective bilateral relations with China. In Brussels the European Chamber was granted the honour of meetings with European Commission President Barroso, as well as four Vice Presidents. This is both a testimony to the increasing significance placed on trade and investment relations with China by both the EU and Member State officials, as well as the value afforded to our Position Paper.”
European Tour to Brussels - Day One
European Tour to Brussels - Day Two
European Tour to Brussels - Day Three
European Tour to Vienna and Berlin
