The re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president has already triggered the first international spat: China has denounced the political guidelines of her second mandate for containing "gross interference" in the country's internal affairs.

"Playing with fire on Taiwan is highly dangerous," Wang Lutong, the director general for European affairs at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday, one day after the Commission chief clinched a majority in Strasbourg.

"Meddling and even trying to join forces is by no means a right choice for Europe."

Lutong's recriminations refer to a small passage in von der Leyen's re-election manifesto that commits her executive to work closely with Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Australia to address "common challenges in cyber, space and in the secure supply of critical minerals and technologies."

"This includes our collective efforts to deploy the full range of our combined statecraft to deter China from unilaterally changing the status quo by military means, particularly over Taiwan," she writes in her 30-page long document.

The reference adds nothing new and simply repeats von der Leyen's well-known stance: Beijing should refrain from any activity that can forcefully alter the decades-long stalemate in the Taiwan Strait, including a military invasion that many fear is inevitable.

But for China, any statement favourable to Taiwan is a red line that no country, whether ally or adversary, must cross.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) considers Taiwan, whose formal name is the Republic of China (RoC), as a breakaway province that needs to be reconciled with the mainland. Taipei rejects this view and argues the island, after years of building up its democratic institutions, is a de facto independent nation.

Taiwan's new president, William Lai, has offered to resume bilateral contacts but insists the RoC and the PRC will never be subordinate to each other. His outspoken views have increased tensions with Beijing, which considers Lai an "instigator of war."

The EU does not recognise Taiwan and has no embassy in Taipei. However, the two sides conduct relations at a lower level on a variety of topics, such as renewable energy, security, research, data protection, human rights and, most importantly for Brussels, semiconductors, a crucial industry where the island enjoys an unbeatable edge.

These ties have intensified in recent years, partly in response to the sharp deterioration in EU-China relations, and are expected to expand during von der Leyen's next mandate.

In a statement, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs congratulated the president on her re-election and "expressed appreciation for her high level of support and concern for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

"In the future," the statement says, "Taiwan will also further collaborate with the European Union to safeguard the rules-based international order and jointly open a new chapter in their friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation."

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Pro-Europeans hail von der Leyen win as rebuff to extremism.

Pro-European forces celebrated the comfortable re-election of Ursula von der Leyen in Strasbourg’s European Parliament on Thursday.

Von der Leyen relied mainly on allies to her left to secure a second term as European Commission chief – and not, as was once expected, on hard-right Conservatives.

In a vote that over recent weeks has looked too close to call, von der Leyen took a majority of 41, even wider than when she first assumed the role in 2019.

Crucially, she did so by relying on broad support from her own European People's Party (EPP), the Liberals of Renew Europe, the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, and the Greens group.

Congratulations poured in from leaders across the EU and beyond - although the bloc's more conservative leaders, such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Italy's Giorgia Meloni, have as of yet stayed silent.

During her re-election campaign, von der Leyen had repeatedly made overtures to Melon's European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, sparking fears among centrists that her next term as President would veer sharply to the right.

But lawmakers belonging to Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) decided at the last minute to vote against von der Leyen, as did the majority of their ECR group.

From the hard-right caucus, only the New Flemish Alliance (NVA) and Czechia's Civic Democratic Party (ODS) chose to back von der Leyen.

"After an in-depth analysis over the last few days, after listening to the speech of the candidate this morning, we decided not to support the re-election of the president of the European Commission," Carlo Fidanza, head of the Parliament's FdI delegation, said.

"We did it despite having appreciated in recent months the collaborative spirit that has characterised the relationship between the Italian Government and President von der Leyen on some issues," Fidanza added.

The Greens, meanwhile, got on board following von der Leyen's political pitch that included a firm commitment to the European Green Deal and safeguarding the rule of law, as well as a new pledge to help EU countries tackle the housing crisis.

“As Greens, we have given Ursula von der Leyen a majority because she has clearly committed to a pro-climate and pro-European course," Green MEP Michael Bloss said, "This is a rejection of [EPP group leader] Manfred Weber's right-wing drift and a commitment to Europe.”

The co-president of the Greens group, the Netherlands' Bas Eickhout, said that political guidelines unveiled by von der Leyen earlier on Thursday were palatable enough to whip Green MEPs to vote in her favour, and they'll likely now prop up her coalition in the upcoming term.

"There's a lot of points that she also clearly gave [in the guidelines] to bring the Greens on board," Eickhout said.

A source close to the Greens group suggested they had lent some 45 of their 53 votes to von der Leyen, which would have made them pivotal in helping her pass the 360-majority mark.

It means they will have political leverage in the next mandate despite suffering big losses in June's European election.

"I have never seen this as a forced majority, I think this is a majority that has been negotiated and has now delivered political guidelines that are probably a good reflection of where these four parties are," Eickhout said.

Centrists celebrate 'major victory' for pro-European forces

The centrist platform that swept von der Leyen to a second term has hailed the vote as a major victory for pro-European forces, after an election campaign that initially cast doubt over the resilience of the centre ground.

"Today is an important day. Today, Europe wins. The pro-European political forces really had a big challenge, a big responsibility, to work together here for this result," Iratxe García, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats, told Euronews.

She added that many of her centre-left group's key demands, such as climate change and housing, were reflected in von der Leyen's manifesto.

"It's about the progressive agenda. It's a guarantee for a future in peace. And really, we can be satisfied to be part of these big challenges," García added.

Renew Europe said von der Leyen’s new political agenda carried the “hallmark” of its liberal vision. “Liberals and centrists have secured strong wins; for a stronger European defence, on the need for increased competitiveness and the defence of our values,” the Liberal group's president Valérie Hayer said.

Greens confident right-wing majorities will not block EU laws

But coalitions in the European Parliament are unstable, meaning that despite von der Leyen's pledges to work with pro-European forces, right-wing majorities could hypothetical emerge to block legislation over the next term.

Asked whether he feared the EPP could veer rightwards, the Greens' Bas Eickhout said: "No ... the only thing you can have with the far right is that they block things. I've never seen the far right building something."

"I know the EPP as a party that wants to build something," he added. "They need us. They need a four-party majority. So now let's get to work on the political programme that Ursula von der Leyen has laid out."

Those sitting at the opposite extremes of the hemicycle were scathingly critical of von der Leyen's re-election.

MEP Jorge Buxadé – who hails from Spain's far-right Vox party, in the newly formed Patriots for Europe group – told reporters that it was a "sad day for Europe, for farmers and for Europe's security."

The Patriots' president, Jordan Bardella, criticised the moderate Conservatives who had backed von der Leyen, and said his group was the only faction to "resolutely oppose the Green Deal, the Migration Pact and the dissolution of our nations."

The Left group also voted against von der Leyen, despite the Commission President meeting its lawmakers on Wednesday in a bid to fish for extra votes. The group's president Manon Aubry described her re-election as an "ethical scandal."

"My group voted unanimously against her," Aubry said. "We will lead the opposition to this deadly project for people and the planet."

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EU to set tariffs on Chinese biodiesel in anti-dumping probe

The European Union is set to impose provisional duties on Chinese biodiesel after finding it is being sold in EU markets at unfairly low prices, in the latest in a string of trade cases against China.

The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, has proposed setting provisional tariffs of between 12.8 and 36.4%, according to a document published on Friday. They are due to be imposed in mid-August.

The investigation is due to continue until February, when definitive duties for five years could be set.

The EU has already set provisional duties for electric vehicles made in China over what it sees as unfair subsidies in its most high-profile case.

For biodiesel, proposed duties are 12.8% for EcoCeres Group products, 36.4% for Jiaao Group, including Zhejiang Jiaao Enproenergy Co, and 25.4% for exports by Zhuoyue Group, including Longyan Zhuoyue New Energy Co

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which lodged the complaint, said earlier this month that a flood of biodiesel from China was having a devastating effect on EU production.

Chevron Renewable Energy Group had furloughed German workers, Shell had paused construction of a Dutch plant, BP was pausing a project in Germany and Argent Energy had closed a biorefinery, EBB said.

"While Chinese imports are not the only reason for these decisions, the biodiesel dumping has contributed to the difficulties producers face," it said.

It says Chinese companies exported 1.8 million tonnes of biodiesel to the European Union in 2023, 90% of all Chinese biodiesel exports.

The European Waste-based and Advanced Biofuels Association said it welcomed the measures, adding it believed they would prompt a normalisation of market conditions from an "extremely adverse" situation since late 2022.

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Chinese industry body tells EU to correct its findings on EVs

JMEV electric vehicle production line in Nanchang.

EU tariffs on electric vehicles built in China breach global trading rules and must be corrected, an industry body representing 12 Chinese automakers told the European Commission in a hearing this week.

The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) presented its view at a hearing on Thursday that the EU's preliminary assessment is incompatible with EU and World Trade Organization rules.

"We are very concerned. We urge the Commission to correct these unlawful findings and terminate the investigation (into Chinese EV subsidies)," CCCME vice president Shi Yonghong told a briefing of reporters on Friday.

The European Union imposed provisional tariffs of between 17.4% and 37.6% earlier in July on EVs made in China, including Chinese brands BYD, Geely and SAIC as well as models built in China by Western manufacturers such as Tesla and BMW.

Shi said domestic producers had a stable share of the EU market and so there was no sign of imminent injury, EU industry losses were not caused by imports, and the investigation lacked transparency and was beset with procedural anomalies.

The Commission, which oversees EU trade policy and will continue its investigation until the end of October, says it is not trying to shut out Chinese EVs, but that measures are required to ensure a level playing field.

"Our investigation is fully in line with all relevant EU and WTO rules," a spokesperson said.

Shi said Chinese automakers wanted Brussels and Beijing to negotiate a balanced solution, although there remained a large gap between the average EU provisional duty of 20.8% and China's push for no measures.

"To reach middle ground, we're talking about somewhere between zero and 20%," he said.

Shi described the average tariff as "unreasonable and inflated" and said that separate EU investigations into the impact of foreign subsidies in the EU market risked deterring Chinese car and battery makers from investing in Europe.

"I think this is of great interest to (EU) member states because many member states are expecting investment from China," he said.

EU members will get a final say on duties at the end of the investigation. In a non-binding vote this week, they exposed divided views on the merits of tariffs.

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