EU leaders rightly claim legitimacy on the basis of transparent and democratic institutions of the European Union. However, the tense negotiations of last weekend between the heads of state and governments of the European Union illustrates that transparency does not necessarily mean easy. The institutional balance between the different EU institutions as defined by the Treaty of Lisbon is a complex power structure, in which the influence of each of the various institutions depends on several factors, not the least human factors.

On July 3, the European Parliament elected its new president, the Italian socialist David Sassoli. More important for the relations between China and Europe, however, will be the personality of the respective chairs of its powerful specialized standing committees on International Trade and on Foreign Affairs, as well as those of the latter's two subcommittees - on human rights and security and defense - who will be elected today. Given the importance of both committees for China, it will be crucial for leading Chinese corporations to work together with these future chairs and, in particular, provide all information required to avoid any misperception of Chinese policies and investment strategies in Europe.

Sassoli owes his election as president to the alliance forged between the three largest groups in the European Parliament: the center-right European People's Party, headed by Manfred Weber, the Socialists, headed by Iratxe García and the Liberal-Democrats, headed by Dacian Ciolo . These groups together account for 444 of the 751 MEPs. This broad majority will avoid individual MEPs who would not follow the guidelines of the group leaders derailing positions agreed between the group leaders. From now on, one can, for this reason consider these three group leaders - Manfred Weber, Iratxe García and Dacian Ciolo - as the three most powerful members of Parliament. The group leaders will divide the key positions - such as the committee chairs - among themselves, before the voting next week.

During the rest of the legislature, the group leaders will designate, for each legislative proposal, the rapporteur who will be in charge of drafting the report for Parliament or in case the report is written by a member of another group, the "shadow rapporteur" who will convey the position of the group to the rapporteur.

The group leaders will also arbitrate if their group members in different committees take inconsistent positions. Following up the internal positions taken by the three parliamentary groups forming the majority is therefore very important. Political groups have their own think thanks. Chinese stakeholders should therefore, if it is not already the case, establish links with the foreign trade or China experts working for the think tanks of the mentioned three main groups: the Martens Centre, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and the European Liberal Forum. Contrary to national political discussions, the work of the European Parliament is generally evidence based. Discussions are held, mostly with reference to facts and figures, not on the basis of ideological arguments. Providing timely adequate data and background to experts and researchers from political groups will facilitate fact checking by these experts of arguments raised by other political groups.

A third element, probably the most important, will be the personality of the future trade commissioner to be appointed by new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, once her appointment by the European Council of heads of States and governments is confirmed by the European Parliament. The future trade Commissioner, together with the newly appointed Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borell, will have to pass through a hearing before respectively the parliament committees on International Trade and on Foreign Affairs. At that stage, the role of the members of parliament will be important because the incoming commissioners can be forced to take position on their intended future policy, in particular on important issues such as the negotiations of the bilateral investment agreement with China or the screening of Chinese investments in Europe. I expect that one of the most prominent topics on which the future trade commissioner will be quizzed will be the exclusion of Chinese companies from EU procurement markets unless Beijing opens up its huge public contracts to EU businesses. The future commissioner will have to take a stance on reciprocity and access to China's market.

Moreover, members of parliament are likely to push the future trade commissioner to include environmental and carbon emission guarantees in trade agreements, given the increased strength of the Green parliamentary group, which now has 74 members following the success of the Greens in Germany and France. It will no longer be enough to emphasize the benefits in terms of investments and employment. European voters showed that they want a bigger focus on sustainable development, including in trade.

The coming months will thus offer a window of opportunity to build bridges and provide background and data to MEPs so as to ensure that the current constructive EU policy regarding trade and investment with China will be continued to the mutual benefit of both Chinese and European companies and citizens.

The author is President of ChinaEU. 

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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