Brussels is to impose curbs on imports of Chinese green technologies, demoting bidders for public contracts and making it harder for buyers to access subsidies.The measures are expected to be unveiled by the European Commission on Thursday as part of a more aggressive drive to tackle China’s dominance in supplying products including solar panels and heat pumps.
Under a draft of the Net Zero Industry Act seen by the Financial Times, public procurement bids using products from a country with more than 65 per cent EU market share would be downgraded. Similar rules would apply to any government programme subsidising consumer purchases. “China is a prime example,” said a person familiar with the plans.
Ursula von der Leyen, commission president, has called for the EU to “de-risk” its exposure to China as Brussels seeks to reduce its dependency on the country’s manufactured goods and inches closers to the US’s tough stance on its communist regime.