128 7. China’s attempts to impact EU decision making through Central Europe: The case of the EU’s refusal to grant China Market Economy Status Eszter Simon 1 and Gabriela Pleschová INTRODUCTION: THE EU’S PLAN TO RECOGNIZE CHINA AS A MARKET ECONOMY AND THE INFLUENCE OF CENTRAL EUROPE OVER ITS SUDDEN CHANGE In October 2015, it seemed evident that the European Union (EU) was going to award China Market Economy Status (MES) within the legal structure of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Representatives of the European Commission had repeatedly expressed their backing for China’s MES, and the overwhelming majority of EU member states, including some of the major players as well as the Visegrad Four countries, also supported China’s recogni- tion as a market economy. Yet, only eight months later, the EU had completely reversed its position, with 84 per cent of members of the European Parliament expressing the view that the EU should deny MES to China. This chapter seeks to uncover the reasons behind the EU’s about-turn by examining how and why Central European Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) came to disapprove of Market Economy Status for China. Understanding the choices of the 105 MEPs from Central Europe is critical because of their voting weight (they exceed in number those from Germany or the sum of French, Belgian and Luxembourg delegates), their traditionally critical stance on China (see Chapter 2), and the instrumental role of Slovakia as the holder of the Council Presidency between July and December 2016. The chapter moreover illuminates why China made almost no effort to impact European decision making until the very end, when it suddenly chose Eszter Simon and Gabriela Pleschová - 9781800371859 Downloaded from https://www.elgaronline.com/ at 04/18/2024 10:07:17AM via free access