Leader of European Parliaments Largest Bloc Calls for Tougher China Trade Policy

Chairman of the center-right European People Party group (EPP) Manfred Weber addresses a joint press conference during the EPP Groups Bureau meeting in Berlin, on Sept. 9, 2021 Stefanie Loos/AFP via Getty ImagesManfred Weber, leader of the European Parliament’s largest political group, called for the European Union to take a tougher trade stance toward China, warning that Beijing’s industrial overcapacity threatens Europe’s manufacturing base.“The time of naivety is over,” Weber told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag on June 7. “We must defend European interests more clearly, more firmly, and more consistently.”