We welcome the European Parliament passing the Report on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the changing geopolitical situation in East Asia and the need for closer cooperation with like-minded partners in the region on July 7th, calling for closer cooperation and partnership between the EU and democratic Taiwan.
In this report, the European Parliament notes its resolution of 24 October 2024 on the misinterpretation of UN resolution 2758 by the People’s Republic of China and its continuous military provocations around Taiwan, as well as its resolution of 13 December 2023 on EU-Taiwan trade and investment relations. The report mentions peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea are of strategic importance for regional and global security, and some EU Member States have a naval presence in the Indo-Pacific and the EU as a whole has a direct interest in the preservation of the status quo. The EU’s interests and global security, the reports states, are best protected by deepening practical cooperation with like-minded partners in the region, particularly Japan, the RoK and Taiwan.
The European Parliament thus recommends the Council, the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy:
• deepen cooperation with like-minded partners in the region, particularly Japan, the RoK and Taiwan, to address common challenges in areas such as economic coercion and hybrid threats; explore and implement joint initiatives to strengthen the parties’ respective strategic autonomies and reduce dependency on China; highlight the importance of Japan’s, the RoK’s and Taiwan’s robust institutions and vibrant democracies within the broader regional context, providing a crucial counterbalance in the region;
• establish a structured and comprehensive EU-Taiwan cooperation framework, building on existing mechanisms such as the Trade and Investment Dialogue, with a strong economic and trade component, focused on critical technologies such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, supply-chain resilience, cybersecurity, disinformation countermeasures, maritime security, public health, civil protection and secure connectivity, as well as democratic, social and energy resilience and disaster preparedness;
• underscore that Taiwan is a key democratic partner for the EU in the Indo-Pacific region; further deepen the EU-Taiwan Trade and Investment Dialogue with a view to addressing market access barriers and enhancing legal certainty for EU investors; explore the launch of negotiations on an EU-Taiwan bilateral investment agreement or other trade-related frameworks;
• continue to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in relevant international bodies and technical forums, such as the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; urge the Chinese authorities to closely coordinate with other regional actors, including Taiwan, when faced with major global health challenges; emphasise that any attempt by authoritarian regimes to influence EU-Taiwan relations is not acceptable;
• reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait by rejecting any coercive unilateral change of the status quo; ensure, through clear and coordinated messaging together with the Member States and like-minded partners, that such actions would incur significant political and economic costs; emphasise that any differences must be resolved peacefully through dialogue, in accordance with international law and respecting the will of the Taiwanese people;
• strongly recall that freedom of navigation and overflight, as guaranteed by international law, must be respected in the Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait; actively engage in diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas; develop, as a matter of urgency, contingency planning and mitigation measures based on plausible escalation scenarios, including a naval blockade of Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China.
The European Parliament, in this report, also looks forward to deepening parliamentary diplomacy and the interparliamentary exchange on items of mutual interest with the Diet of Japan, the National Assembly of the RoK, and members of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan.
Taiwan’s Representative Office in the EU and Belgium thanks the European Parliament for supporting Taiwan’s meaningful international participation and the strengthening of EU-Taiwan cooperation in various areas, and for stressing that the EU’s interests and global security are best protected by deepening practical cooperation with like-minded partners in the region, including Taiwan. Taiwan will continue to actively contribute to the international community, working with democratic partners to strive for security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world.
