21 PROPOSED INITIATIVES FOR EU RELATIONS WITH TAIWAN

1. Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA).
2. Participation of Taiwan as an observer in meetings, mechanisms and activities of international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  
3. Economic, scientific, cultural, political and people-to-people exchanges, as well as exchanges with the participation of Member State representatives, including at the most senior levels.
4. Bilateral economic relations and people-to-people contacts, especially among youth, and including academia, civil society, sports, culture and education, as well as city-to-city and region-to-region partnerships as well as current sister city partnerships.
5. Cooperation in the media sector.
6. Raising awareness in Europe about the situation in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the complexity of Taiwan-China relations through the establishment and funding of dedicated programs and research targeting society at large; as well as investing in an inclusive debate across Member States, explaining to the European public the risks of an authoritarian advance in the Indo-Pacific through China’s assertive posture and its efforts to undermine democracy, in particular in Taiwan, and the implications of leaving such threats unaddressed for democracies across the globe.
7. Dialogue and cooperation in all industrial sectors and supply chains, in particular emerging industries and industries of strategic importance such as electronic vehicles, robotics and smart manufacturing, as well as semiconductor technologies.
8. Partnerships in the fields of ICT, biotech, health and security, and concrete cooperation and initiatives between the EU Connectivity Strategy and Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy; as well as strongly support intensifying both sides’ partnership in semiconductors.
9. Taiwan’s central role in strategic industries such as the fifth generation of communication infrastructure (5G)
10. Green and digital transition
11. Diversification of value and supply chains, such as microelectronics, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI)
12. Discussions on research and technology cooperation, blockchain, AI, cybersecurity certification, the data economy and digital connectivity, in order to identify further synergies, expand policy exchange on the development of the digital economy, and establish more extensive partnerships.
13. Cooperation in confronting disinformation from malign third countries, including the sharing of best practices, joint approaches to fostering media freedom and journalism, deepening cooperation on cybersecurity and cyber-threats, raising citizens’ awareness and improving overall digital literacy among the population in order to strengthen the resilience of our democratic systems; support intensified cooperation between relevant European and Taiwanese think tanks in this field.
14. Cooperation on research and innovation in the Horizon Europe Framework Program (2021-2027) and participation of Taiwanese researchers.
15. Tourism and youth exchanges though initiatives such as the working holiday, the Erasmus programs or the Taiwan-Europe Connectivity Scholarship and opportunities for cooperation in higher education and other areas with the goal of strengthening Chinese and Taiwanese expertise in Europe and contributing to a better understanding of Europe in Taiwan.
16. Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF).
17. Work with Taiwan to advance human rights, social rights, religious freedom, the digital economy and sustainable growth of the developing countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
18. Exchange best practices in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, launching initiatives to facilitate the procurement of vaccines and enhance the EU’s cooperation with Taiwan in health and communicable disease control.
19. Intelligence sharing between Member States and Taiwan and the joint fight against cross-border crime should be encouraged.
20. Participation of Taiwan in existing platforms and working groups on critical industries.
21. Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion or a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Taiwan.

Key sectors

• artificial intelligence (AI)
• autonomous driving
• biotech
• blockchain
• communication infrastructure (5G)
• cybersecurity certification
• data economy
• digital connectivity
• digital economy
• electronic vehicles
• health
• ICT
• microelectronics
• robotics
• semiconductor technologies.
• smart manufacturing