Aren European safety standards a trade defence mechanism in disguise?
No. Their only objective is to protect European consumers. Products imported to the EU from all over the world have to respect strict European standards, no matter where they come from. The EU is an open market that welcomes imports including Chinese products. In case of goods, China is the EU’s No 1 import partner and the EU is China’s No 1 trading partner. In 2006, China exported products with a value of EUR 191 billion into the EU, and the growth rate of the exports is increasing further (+25.7% in the first quarter of 2007). In the same year, China’s trade surplus with the EU in goods was in excess of EUR 128 billion, and it is still growing.
