歐盟尋求與美國聯盟 - 篩選投資者以對抗中國

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

EU Seeks U.S. Alliance on Investor Screening to Confront China

Alberto Nardelli

Tue., September 14, 2021, 2:40 a.m.

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union will aim to agree on a framework for working with the U.S. to screen potentially hostile foreign investments when officials meet in Pittsburgh later this month, according to a person familiar with the preparations for the talks.

The two sides are working toward a statement of principles that would see them share information and data relating to foreign takeovers and cooperate on assessing investments in strategic assets, the person said. The inaugural Trade and Technology Council on Sept. 29 will also aim to deliver similar statements to shape cooperation on export controls, artificial intelligence and critical supply chains of goods like semiconductors, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters.

A press officer for the European Commission declined to comment. The meeting comes at a moment when China, like other countries, has been shopping around for technology firms and is boosting subsidies and research spending. Beijing has declared its intention of becoming the world leader in industries from cutting-edge chips to AI.

The U.S. and the EU have also accused Beijing of human rights abuses, cyber espionage and flooding global markets with artificially cheap goods to undermine competitors. Managers at an Italian military-drone company were reported to prosecutors recently after it was alleged they had sold a majority stake to state-owned companies in China.

But as the U.S. and the EU look to combine their regulatory muscle to set global standards driven by common values, the Europeans are trying to avoid being drawn too closely into Washington’s sphere of influence. There is some concern in Brussels to ensure that any tools that might eventually result from the technology and trade council can’t be used by the U.S. to harm European companies, the person said.

The bloc is still stinging from the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan with little consideration for allies’ concerns and is conscious of its reliance on the U.S. for digital technologies.

In a policy paper due to be released this week, the European Commission will set out a technology and digital strategy for the next decade that seeks to ease the EU’s dependence on countries including the U.S. A draft of the paper seen by Bloomberg notes that 90% of EU data is managed by U.S. companies and key parts of critical supply chains are under U.S. proprietary control.

The EU needs to increase investment by about 125 billion euros ($150 billion) to upgrade its digital economy and compete with the U.S. and China, the paper says. That includes 42 billion euros for communication networks, 17 billion euros for semiconductors and 11 billion euros for cloud computing.

The paper sets out the challenges for the EU in reaching its goal of 20% global market share of cutting-edge semiconductors by 2030, warning that it is significantly outspent by both the U.S. and China, and both nations are investing to keep key technologies within their own shores.

The EU will push for stronger foreign investment tools to help keep hold of intellectual property in areas such as semiconductors, according to the program document. Although the paper doesn’t mention China directly, that move is aimed mostly at Beijing.

As they prepare for the Pittsburgh talks, the EU and the U.S. have a shared interest in setting and influencing global standards that can help them shape a common approach to China, the person added. While the text of any agreement is unlikely to name China, Beijing is the obvious target for the measures.

Semiconductors will feature prominently on the agenda for the meeting, said the person, cutting across several items, including work on supply chains, screening and export controls.

The EU will also be looking to establish digital partnership agreements with Japan, South Korea and Singapore as part of an Indo-Pacific strategy the bloc is launching this week.

Translation

【彭博】-- 據知情人士透露，歐盟將在本月晚些時候, 當與美國官員在匹茲堡會面時, 就合作的框架達成一致，以篩選潛在的敵對外國投資。

這位知情人士說，雙方正在努力達成一項原則聲明，讓他們共享與外國收購有關的信息和數據，並在評估戰略資產投資方面進行合作。這位不願透露姓名的人士表示，將於9 月 29 日成立的貿易和技術委員會也將發表類似聲明，以促進出口管制、及在人工智能和半導體等關鍵商品供應鏈方面的合作。

歐盟委員會的一名新聞官員拒絕置評。召開此次會議面對的是中國, 與其他國家一樣，一直在尋找科技公司，並正在增加國家補貼和研究支出。北京已宣布有意成為從尖端芯片到人工智能等行業的世界領先者。

美國和歐盟還指責北京侵犯人權、進行網絡間諜活動，並用人為的廉價商品充斥全球市場以削弱競爭對手。一家意大利軍用無人機公司的管理人員最近被舉報到檢察官，因為他們被指控將多數股權出售給了中國的國有企業。

但隨著美國和歐盟尋求聯合他們的監管力量來製定由共同價值觀驅動的全球標準，歐洲人亦正試圖避免被過於緊密地拉入華盛頓的勢力範圍。這位知情人士說，布魯塞爾要確保技術和貿易委員會最終可能產生的任何手段不能被美國用來傷害歐洲公司。

歐盟仍然對拜登政府在幾乎沒有考慮盟友的擔憂的情況下從阿富汗撤軍的決定感到不滿，並且意識到它在數字技術方面依賴美國。

在將於本週發布的政策文件中，歐盟委員會將製定未來十年的技術和數字戰略，旨在減輕歐盟對包括美國在內的國家的依賴。彭博看到的文件草稿指出，90%的歐盟數據由美國公司管理，關鍵供應鏈的主要部分受美國專有控制。

該報稱，歐盟需要增加約 1250 億歐元（1500 億美元）的投資，以升級其數字經濟並與美國和中國展開競爭。其中包括用於通信網絡的 420 億歐元、用於半導體的 170 億歐元和用於雲計算的 110 億歐元。

該文件闡述了歐盟在 2030 年實現其尖端半導體全球市場份額達到 20% 的目標所面臨的挑戰，並警告說，支出都很大地被美國和中國超過，兩國都在投資在把關鍵技術保持在他們自己的境内。

根據該計劃文件，歐盟將推動更強的外國投資工具，以幫助控制半導體等領域的知識產權。儘管該報沒有直接提及中國，但此舉主要針對北京。

這位知情人士補充說，在為匹茲堡會談做準備之際，歐盟和美國在規格上和影響全球標準方面有著共同的利益，這些標準可以幫助他們形成對中國的共同態度。雖然任何協議的文本都不太可能提到中國，但北京顯然是這些措施的目標。

該人士表示，半導體將在會議議程上佔據突出地位，亦涉及多個項目，包括供應鏈、篩选和出口管制方面的工作。

作為歐盟在本週啟動的印太戰略的一部分，歐盟還將尋求與日本、韓國和新加坡建立數字夥伴關係協議。

       So, The European Union aims to reach an agreement with the US on a working framework to screen potentially hostile foreign investments when their officials meet in Pittsburgh. The common goal will be to check China’s overseas investments.