歐盟委員會關于北京光伏談判的備忘錄（英文）

EUROPEAN COMMISSION MEMO
Beijing, 21 June 2013

Remarks by EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht after the 27th EU-China Joint Committee Let me first thank Minister Gao Hucheng for his warm welcome to Beijing today for the 27th EU-China Joint Committee.
I have met Minister Gao on several occasions before – in particular I have very fondmemories of my visit to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo where you were present Minister.
However, it is the first time I meet you in person since you took up your new position as Minister of Commerce. Allow me to congratulate you once again.
Let me say that I look forward to us building a productive and successful working relationship together.
Now, it's clear to everyone that in recent weeks both China and Europe have not seen eye to eye on the one specific issue of Europe's trade defense case on solar panels. There is no point in denying that.
Now, let me cut to the chase - to then allow me to focus on the valuable work of today's Joint Committee.
The solar panel issue has NOT been part of this morning's discussions between us since it is not part of the Joint Committee's agenda.
However, as I made clear through a press statement on Tuesday, technical-level discussions toward a negotiated settlement begun in Brussels at the start of this week and continue now in Beijing.
That said, it goes without saying that Minister Gao and myself will discuss this issue. It is clearly in both our interests to do so.
But a word of caution. It is early days in the negotiation process. This kind of issue is rarely solved overnight. Everyone should be very careful not to jump to any conclusions -one way or the other – simply because there is no hard news on this issue today.
On the contrary, I believe that both sides have now engaged in a sincere way to work towards an amicable solution. That is the good news.