Slashdot Mirror


EU Wants Power To Block China's Tech Buying

itwbennett writes "In an interview with German daily paper Handelsblatt, the EU's industry commissioner, Antonio Tajani, said he wants the power to block China from buying up European tech companies. Tajani envisions an authority along the same lines as the United States' Committee on Foreign Investment and would determine 'if the acquisition (of a company) with European know-how by a private or public foreign company represented a danger or not.'"

4 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Considering that they have tied their money ... by WindBourne · · Score: 3, Informative
    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  2. Re:So Chinese agents will buy the companies instea by MichaelSmith · · Score: 3, Informative

    This comes from my wife's relatives and friends. They are primarily Malaysian born Chinese with Australian PR or citizenship. And yes they have a lot of trouble saving to buy. They see a lot of mainland Chinese born people buying property purely to invest. Additionally my wife works as an architect and she knows of mainland Chinese businesses which are actively investing in the Australian property market. They do projects typically between five and 10 million AUD. Usually high density unit development. She looked at working for them but they weren't paying enough to justify the risk.

  3. Under what power? by SlappyBastard · · Score: 1, Informative

    The EU, as currently conceived, just flat-out doesn't have the power to enforce laws in individual countries. Look at the recent abortion ruling by the EU against Ireland. Ireland's response amounted to "And . . . ?"

    The first time the EU tries to make this stick, they're going to have to go to court against every member nation the company in question operates in.

    The Europeans need to face facts: they're not remotely as committed to the ideal of unity in practice as their speeches would suggest. Look at the bailout. The Eurozone basically exists so Germany and France can export surplus productivity to lazier, poorer countries. The Eurozone exists to correct flaws in the German Mark that the Germans themselves could never fix. But, when it comes time to pay up for indulging those lazier, poorer countries for profit, the Germans and French bitch and complain ceaselessly about having to do it. And worse, they force their partners into austerity measures that fundamentally extend the failures of the Mark to the Euro.

    The Europeans are too stupid for their own good. The invent a unified government that no one ever intended to obey. They implement a a common currency that no one wants to back -- and then bitch when it turns out ya kinda have to back your currency no matter how badly your partners piss on it.

    If it weren't for improving the passport rules, the EU would go down in history as an abject internationalist failure alongside the League of Nations.

    The only question for the Europeans now is whether they do what the early US did. The early US figured out that the original Articles of Confederation were useless and barely empowered the government to do anything (sound familiar?). Eventually a new constituent assembly was called and a real Constitution (admittedly full of poisonous compromises) was written.

    Until the EU gets down to the business of writing a non-pathetic organizing document, they might as well save the bullshit and let the Chinese steal everything.

    --
    I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
  4. It's more complicated than just that.... by Bacon+Bits · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes, but the reason the US machines were able to take off is because the European mills were all destroyed or put out of business by the people who worked, owned, or invested in the manually run non-industrialized mills. If the Europeans hadn't so soundly rejected the new processes then industry in the US would have floundered by being unable to produce goods at competitive prices.

    Today we remember these angry Europeans -- who are infamous for storming the new mills and breaking the machines -- for the name of one of the most outspoken among them: George Ludd. Yes, they were the Luddites.

    Yes, the plans were stolen away to the US, but they were not being used in Europe because the technology was socially unacceptable!

    --
    The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.