President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of May 29 met with Dr. Viviane Reding, Honorary Chairperson of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group. In addition to extending a cordial welcome to Dr. Reding on her visit to Taiwan, the president also updated her on interaction and progress between Taiwan and the European Union (EU) in recent years.
In remarks, the president stated that Dr. Reding is an important friend of the ROC, having promoted many resolutions friendly to the ROC in the European Parliament. Those resolutions include one in 1993 supporting Taiwan's entry into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the passage of two emergency resolutions in February and March 1996 condemning mainland China's military threats to Taiwan, and the July 1996 adoption of a resolution on Taiwan's role in international organizations. At the same time, Dr. Reding successfully worked to have the European Commission establish a representative office in Taiwan. The president expressed his deepest gratitude to Dr. Reding for her consistent and strong support during the 15 years when she served as a member of the European Commission as well as vice-president of the European Commission for the development of Taiwan-EU relations, and in particular for her efforts to have the EU grant visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals.
The president went on to say that Dr. Reding hails from Luxembourg, which has a long history of relations with the ROC. For instance, flights between Luxembourg and Taipei started in 1982, making Luxembourg the first destination served in Europe from Taiwan. In addition, on March 27 and 28 this year, Taiwan's renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre performed at the Grand Theatre of Luxembourg, receiving a strong reception by audiences there.
The president furthermore remarked that the ROC and Luxembourg have extremely close financial relations. The ROC's Financial Supervisory Commission under the Executive Yuan and Luxembourg's Commission de Surveillance de Secteur Financier in August 2010 signed a memorandum of understanding, thereby enhancing bilateral cooperation.
President Ma said that since he took office in 2008, the European Parliament has passed numerous resolutions supporting the negotiation and signing of a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) and economic cooperation agreement (ECA) between the EU and Taiwan. He went on to say that since becoming president he immediately began working to improve Taiwan's relations with mainland China and promote cross-strait reconciliation and cooperation, thereby fostering peaceful development between the two sides. The EU has steadfastly expressed its strong support for these policies, and its stance has been in line with that of the United States and the majority of countries throughout the world, recognizing that the significant improvement in cross-strait relations is effectively promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait, he said.
Discussing relations between the ROC and the EU, the president said that the EU is Taiwan's fifth-largest trading partner, while Taiwan is the EU's seventh-largest trading partner in Asia. Bilateral trade in 2014 stood at about US$50.9 billion, which was up 3.7% from the previous year and underscores our close bilateral economic and trade relations.
The president also addressed Taiwan's active efforts to participate in regional economic integration. He told Dr. Reding that the ROC over the past several years has adopted a "multiple contact" method in signing related agreements with major trading partners including mainland China, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore. Taiwan is also presently seeking to obtain entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to avoid being marginalized amidst the trend toward global and regional economic integration, the president said.
The president then cited the conclusions of a feasibility assessment carried out by a Danish think tank that showed the signing of an ECA between Taiwan and the EU would generate growth equivalent to over €10 billion. He thus hopes that the European Commission will commence BIA negotiations with Taiwan as soon as practicable, helping to expand bilateral economic and trade relations.
The president also mentioned the results of cooperation between Taiwan and the EU, stating that in recent years Taiwan has opened its market to imports of pork from Spain and Poland, and pork and poultry from France. In addition, the number of ROC nationals traveling to Europe has grown rapidly since the EU in 2011 granted visa-free courtesies to ROC citizens, and this has been conducive to promoting bilateral tourism, trade, and economic relations. The president hopes that Taiwan and the EU will use this existing foundation as the basis to continue to deepen the cooperative relationship.