(Adnkronos) – The European Commission does not acknowledge the merit of the report published this morning by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, according to which the EU’s investigations into Chinese companies regarding state subsidies constitute “unfair barriers to trade and investment”. This emerges from the comments of Lea Zuber, Commission spokesperson on competition and the internal market, during the daily press briefing.
“We have no specific comment on this report. I can only say that the [Foreign Subsidies] Regulation aims to ensure fair competition between companies” and “should allow the Commission to address any distortions caused by subsidies granted by non-EU governments,” explains Zuber.
“All companies are subject” to European state aid rules, “regardless of where they are based or their nationality, and the criteria are applied objectively” both inside and outside the EU, adds the spokesperson.
The line is the same regarding another accusation by the Chinese ministry, according to which the Commission did not cooperate in its counter-investigation. “We are very open to exchanging information with the authorities, particularly in the context of the investigation we have conducted under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation”, a matter on which there has been an exchange of information, assures Zuber.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the Commission has conducted a “selective application” of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which has led the EU to “treat Chinese products worse than products from other countries”, causing a loss of over 15 billion yuan (almost 2 billion euros), according to Chinese news agency Xinhua. Brussels has allegedly “gone too far” with its dawn raids and European investigators have been “subjective and arbitrary” regarding market distortion.
The report by the Chinese government body was published following the completion of a European investigation into foreign subsidies. The investigation from which it originated was in turn a response to the launch of the European investigation aimed at verifying whether Chinese government subsidies have harmed competition in Europe, particularly in the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors. The document does not mention possible retaliatory measures.
