From 11-15 December 2023, an ECCT delegation, headed by Chairman Giuseppe Izzo and CEO Freddie Höglund, completed another successful Open Door Mission to Brussels, Belgium with a side trip to Paris, France. During the trip, the ECCT delegation updated representatives from the European Union in Brussels and European business associations on the ECCT’s position papers, business, economic and other developments in Taiwan, received updates on developments in Europe, exchanged information on ongoing trade, investment and business trends and explored opportunities for future bilateral cooperation. For the first time in 2023, a smaller delegation also travelled to Paris, France ahead of the visit to Brussels to meet with representatives of Business at OECD (BIAC), a global network of over 50 national business and employer bodies that connects business with government and makes policy recommendations to the OECD.

During the Paris leg of the trip, in addition to meetings with OECD (BIAC), the delegation met with Benoit Guidee, the previous French representative to Taiwan and currently Asia Director at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and paid a courtesy to Wu Chih-chung, Ambassador of the Taipei Representative Office in France.

During the trip to Brussels, the ECCT delegation met with representatives from the European Commission, including the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), the Directorate General for Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE), the Directorate General for Trade (DG TRADE) the Cabinet of Executive Vice-President & Trade Commissioner Valdis DOMBROVSKIS and the European External Action Service (EEAS). In addition, the delegation met with representatives from the following business associations: Business Europe, Wind Europe, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA).

On the final evening of the trip, the delegation enjoyed a dinner hosted by Deputy Representative Roland Yang of the Taiwan Representative Office in the EU & Belgium and his colleagues.

Details of the meetings and attendees are listed below.

ECCT delegation:

• Giuseppe Izzo, Chairman
• Freddie Höglund, CEO
• Laurent Chevalier, Executive Director
• John Eastwood, Director, Treasurer & IPR Committee Co-chair
• Don Yang, Wind Energy committee Co-chair
• Fabian Bergeron, EEE committee Co-chair
• Vivienne Lin, Director, Automotive, EEE and Retail & Distribution committees
• Sammy Su, LCI Director
• Duncan Levine, Publications Editor

 

Meetings with Business at OECD (BIAC)
11 December 2023

Attended by:

• Hanni Rosenbaum, Executive Director
• Dominik Kümmerle, Policy Director
• David Cucino, China Expert Group Chair & Head of EU Affairs, Fincantieri
• Ana Novik, Head of Investment Division, OECD Directorate for Finance and Enterprize Affairs
• Verena Weber, Head of Communications Infrastructures and Services Policy Unit, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation
• Guy Lalanne, Senior Economist and Policy Analyst, Industrial and Sectoral Policies, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation
• Karim Dahou, Deputy Director, OECD Directorate for Global Relations and Cooperation & Head of China Unit
• Janos Ferencz, Trade Policy Analyst, OECD Directorate for Trade and Agriculture

 

Meeting with Business Europe
13 December 2023

Participants

• Luisa SANTOS, Director

 

Meeting with ACEA
13 December 2023

Participants

• Paul GREENING, Director, Emissions & Fuels
• Petr DOLEJSI, Director Mobility & Sustainable Transport
• Thomas FABIAN, Director, Commercial Vehicles

Meeting with Wind Europe
13 December 2022

Participants

• Giles DICKSON, CEO
• Pierre TARDIEU, Chief Policy Officer
• Phil COLE, Director of Industrial Affairs
• Laura CASUSCELLI, Senior Advisor – Competitiveness & Trade Policy

 

Meeting with the Directorate General for Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE)
13 December 2023

EC officials participating:

• Harvey ROUSE, Head of Unit, International Relations
• Dr Zlatko KREGAR, Policy Officer, Sustainable & Intelligent Transport
• Annika SIIRAK, International Relations Officer, International Relations
• Michal KUBICKI, Policy Officer, Sustainable & Intelligent Transport

 

Meeting with the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW)
14 December 2023

EC delegation:

• Maive RUTE, Deputy Director-General
• David RODRIGUEZ COLMENERO, Policy Officer
• Ansestis FILOPOULOS, Policy Officer, Green & Circular Economy
• Dr Patrice MILLET, Policy Officer, Hydrogen Economy
• Óscar RUIZ-ARTEAGA

  

Meeting with the Directorate General for Trade (DG TRADE)
14 December 2023

EC delegation:

• Marcus GUSTAFSSON, Policy Officer, Unit B1 – Far East
• Tomas KUCHTIK, Policy Officer, Regulatory Cooperation and Public Procurement

 

Meeting with the Cabinet of Executive Vice-President & Trade Commissioner Valdis DOMBROVSKIS
14 December 2023

Participants

• Žaneta VEGNERE, Deputy Head of Cabinet
• Petra KUEHNEN, Assistant to the Deputy Head of Cabinet
• Marcus GUSTAFSSON, Policy Officer, Unit B1 – Far East
• Dr Fabian M KREUZER, Policy Officer, Industry, Goods, Energy, Customs and Origin
• Eva VALLE LAGARES, Head of Unit
• Joanna Szchowska, Director, Asia (I) Services and Digital Trade, Investment and Intellectual Property

 

Meeting with European External Action Service
15 December 2023

EC participants

• Dominic PORTER, Head of Division, EEAS
• Marco FERRI, Senior Expert

 

Meeting with Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) & Global Renewables Alliance (GRA)
15 December 2023

Participants from GWEC, GRA and others

• Bruce DOUGLAS, CEO, GRA
• Thoa NGUYEN, Offshore Wind Policy Officer, GWEC
• Killian DALY, Managing Director, EnergyTag
• Arthur WIGGERS, Policy Officer COP28, GRA

 

Dinner with Taiwan Representative Office in the EU & Belgium
15 December 2023

Members of the Taiwan delegation

•  Roland Yang, Deputy Representative, Taiwan Representative Office in the EU & Belgium.
• Shui Limei, Director, Economic Division
• Chen Ya-hiu, Director, Parliamentary Liaison Division
• Chen Man-ying, Deputy Director, Economic Division
• Tsao Chia-chun (Snow), Economic Secretary, Economic Division
• Adriana YJ Chen, Second Secretary