Brussels, 03/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Commission is to decide midweek on provisional sanctions on imports of solar panels from China.
Under pressure from Beijing and the reluctant European capitals, the European executive is to decide on Wednesday whether it will impose temporary anti-dumping duty of between 37% and 68% (47% on average) on solar panels imported from China, as proposed by Karel De Gucht on 8 May.
Led by Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland, 18 member states are believed to be opposed to this measure and would prefer a negotiated solution. In the opposite corner, the measure is supported by France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, which wish to protect the European photovoltaics industry.
As desired by Berlin, which initially supported his proposal - Solar World, the company behind the anti-dumping complaint from the association EU Pro Sun against Chinese solar panels, is German - before being convinced by Beijing to give up on it, De Gucht is not ruling out a negotiated solution with the Chinese authorities or the negotiation of a three-way arrangement with the United States. However, the commissioner is still arguing for the European executive to keep its independence in anti-dumping decisions. (EH/transl.fl)