On Monday 4 December, the EU Council of Ministers approved the new EU anti-dumping methodology for calculating anti-dumping duties. This is based on an assessment of the market distortions in the third countries where state interference in the economy is significant.
The governments of the 28 EU member states thus approved the text adopted by the European Parliament on 15 November, which was the fruit of an inter-institutional agreement concluded on 3 October (see EUROPE 11875).
This text will be signed formally on 13 December and the new rules will enter into force a day after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU on 19 December.
The new EU anti-dumping methodology is neutral with regard to the third countries and is fully in line with the EU's obligations at the WTO by removing the previous distinction between market economies and non-market economies in the anti-dumping calculation.
The Commission will instead have to prove the existence of a significant market distortion between the sales price of a product and the cost of production. On this basis, a price can be set for the product by referring, for example, to the price of the product in a country with a similar level of economic development or to relevant undistorted international prices and costs.
The Commission will also draft specific reports on the countries or sectors describing the distortions. In line with current practice, EU businesses will have to lodge complaints, but they will be able to use Commission reports to support their case.
The new EU anti-dumping legislation will be the very first to take account of international standards on the environment and labour. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)