TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen addresses European and Asian leaders this morning on the topic of nuclear proliferation as countries from the two regions and further afield seek to deepen trade and political links at a 48-country summit in Brussels.
Mr Cowen will address the plenary session of the eighth annual Asia-Europe meeting when the leaders turn to a discussion on “global issues” on the second and final day of meetings.
Dozens of EU and Asian heads of government are attending, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao among them, as well leaders from Russia, Australia and New Zealand.
With the financial crisis high on the global agenda, in total the attendees represent 58 per cent of the world’s economy and 60 per cent of all international trade.
The opening session yesterday was dominated by Mr Wen’s implicit rebuff to European demands, supported by the US, for a speedy appreciation of the yuan.
Mr Wen said the underlying impact of the financial crisis had yet to be removed and called for the promotion of economic restructuring and the gradual removal the systemic and structural risks.
But there was no sign of any retreat from China’s currency policy, under which Beijing places a cap on the yuan’s gains. “We should intensify macroeconomic policy co-ordination, manage with caution the timing and pace of an exit strategy from economic stimulus, and keep the exchange rates of major reserve currencies relatively stable,” he said.
As China’s share of global trade advances, the country has long been accused by European and American critics of maintaining weakness in its currency to promote its exports. Critics argue that this artificial exchange rates damages employment and economic competitiveness among China’s advanced trading partners.
European leaders are expected to stress the yuan “undervaluation” in a series of private bilateral meetings. On the margins of the summit Mr Cowen had meetings with Mr Wen, Spanish prime minister Jose Luís Rodriguez Zapatero and Australian prime minister Julia Gillard.
Key European officials doubt the extent to which China is willing to contemplate any concessions to pressure from the international community. As the first session closed last night, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said only that the leaders aimed to achieve “strong, sustainable and balanced and inclusive growth” while “strengthening confidence in the financial market and promoting economic progress in developing countries”. Following a landmark trade pact between the EU and South Korea, similar deals involving India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand are in the offing.
Mr Van Rompuy also said the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deliver on reforms in the area of financial regulation and supervision. “We agreed on the need to eliminate excessive leverage practices, the need to improve supervisory and crisis management process, to strengthen over-the-counter derivatives regulation, and to improve regulatory oversight of financial firms, hedge funds and credit-rating agencies,” he said.