Wind turbines: EU launches anti-subsidy investigation targeting China

"Today (Tuesday) we are launching a new survey on Chinese wind turbine suppliers. We are studying the conditions for developing wind farms in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria," Vestager said. in the United States, during a speech at Princeton University (New Jersey).

After automobiles, railways and solar panels, the European Union is therefore entering into a new standoff with China, against a backdrop of trade tensions with the Asian giant.

The investigation announced Tuesday is part of new European rules that came into force in mid-2023 to prevent subsidies from third countries suspected of creating unfair competition in calls for tender.

Ms Vestager did not provide details on the companies or the procedures involved.

Brussels opened its first investigation in mid-February within the framework of the new anti-subsidy regulations, targeting a subsidiary of the Chinese railway manufacturer CRRC, the world number one in the sector.

This state group, a candidate for the supply of electric trains in Bulgaria, finally withdrew from the call for tenders at the end of March.

On April 3, the Commission announced a second investigation, under the same instrument, targeting two candidate consortia to design, build and operate a photovoltaic park in Romania.

The first targeted consortium brings together the Romanian group Enevo and a subsidiary - based in Germany - of the Chinese giant Longi, the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic cells.

The second combines two subsidiaries entirely controlled by the same Chinese state group, Shanghai Electric, under close supervision of the central government.

In another regulatory framework, the EU launched an investigation in September into Chinese public subsidies for electric automobiles, in order to defend European industry in the face of prices deemed “artificially low”.