MEP to lead European Parliament delegation in China

MEP Therese Comodini Cachia was appointed head of delegation for a mission to China of the European Parliament’s committee on legal affairs. The delegation is tasked with bilateral discussions on various aspects of intellectual property rights (IPR), copyright, development of regulation in the area of robotics and artificial intelligence as well as discussing aspects of company law and corporate governance.

“It is an honour to be entrusted to lead this important delegation. Its purpose is to further deepen multi-level dialogue with China on fair trading principles,” Comodini Cachia said.

“The EU invests greatly in bilateral dialogue to ensure that European business and innovation is not prejudiced by differences in regulation and enforcement measures. The EU is China’s biggest source of imports and China is one of the EU’s fastest growing export markets,” she added.

Comodini Cachia said that issues related to an innovation driven economy, an intellectual property rights strategy for internationalisation of business which includes effective solutions to infringement of intellectual property rights, as well as the facilitation of corporate governance structures, would be discussed during the meetings.

“The uptake of European made industrial robots and developments in artificial intelligence is quickly rising in China and this may increase the shift towards an in-country robotics industry. We will be discussing ethical and legal questions related to this sector,” she said.

The delegation will be meeting with officials from the EU delegation office, the national people's congress, the supreme court, the ministry of commerce, national authorities in the field, experts and civil society.

The delegation will include Therese Comodini Cachia as head of delegation (EPP Group), Mary Honeyball (S&D Group), Emil Radev (EPP Group), Angel Dzhambazki (ECR Group) and Kostas Chrysogonos (EUL/NGL).