Tag: solar panels

The European Commission has decided not to impose provisional duties on Chinese solar panels but plans to continue its anti-subsidy investigation.

China has a positive attitude in its EU relations, but it is also strongly determined to safeguard the interests of its nation and enterprises, Xi Jian, ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Warsaw, told EurActiv Poland.

Escalated tensions between the European Union and China over solar panel tariffs is not going to cause a trade war. These disputes are short-lived, even if they are expected to continue in the coming years, explains George Friedman.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht bluntly told China and leading European states that they were wasting their time trying to put pressure on him to drop plans to impose punitive import duties on Chinese solar panels.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday  (26 May) called for an end to a trade row between Europe and China over solar panels and wireless equipment, telling a joint news conference they were both for free trade.

The European Commission agreed to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China in a move to guard against what it sees as dumping of cheap goods in Europe, prompting a cautious response from Beijing which called for further dialogue.

The head of EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht’s cabinet has told EurActiv that the bloc has many worries about a clean-tech trade war with China over unfair subsidisation of solar panels, but that its hands are tied. 

Reports of turmoil in a futuristic plan to generate 15% of Europe’s energy from Saharan solar power have been stoutly denied by the chief executive of the Desertec initiative, Paul van Son. 

There are no technical barriers to the large-scale integration of solar power into the electricity grid in Europe over the long term, says a report by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association.