On 22 June, the European Commission and High Representative Mogherini presented a Joint Communication outlining the EU´s strategy towards China. According to the EC, the relationship should be principled, practical and pragmatic, while staying true to our norms. In the first phase, the EU will negotiate an ambitious investment agreement with China. China will also take part in EU´s investment plan (the so-called Juncker plan) and the two sides should cooperate in the fields of innovation and research. Once progress is made in China in several areas, such as over-capacity and status of private and state enterprises, and provided that the investment deal is successfully concluded, the EU should propose a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. The two sides should also continue cooperating on global issues. For the time being, though, the EC urged the co-legislators to make progress on the Trade Defense Instruments reform.

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