On Friday 31 August, the European Commission decided not to extend the anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese solar panels. The duties expire on Monday evening, 3 September.
Giving assurances it has taken account of the needs of both producers and importers, the Commission is of the opinion that this decision is "in the best interests of the EU as a whole" and takes into account the EU’s new renewable energy targets.
The anti-dumping duties were set up in December 2013 at the request of European solar module producers EU ProSun, and they were extended for the last time in March 2017, while providing for a gradual elimination over an exceptionally short 18-month period (see EUROPE 11721).
The Commission does not consider that market conditions have changed fundamentally since spring 2017.
Representing many solar energy actors using imports, SolarPower Europe has hailed the end of the anti-dumping duties – "the main barrier to growth of the solar energy industry in Europe". "The European Commission has unleashed a new solar age in Europe. The trade measures have made solar much more expensive than necessary in Europe. By removing them, solar will now be the cheapest form of electricity in many EU countries", James Watson, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said.
The story is totally different at EU ProSun. The Commission's decision "comes at the same time as China is releasing the biggest wave of dumped exports ever in the global solar market: a volume four times as big as the annual demand of all EU member states put together", Milan Nitzschke, President of EU ProSun, deplored in another press release. He stated that while other big markets "such as the US, India, Canada or Turkey" are implementing strict measures against being flooded by dumped Chinese produced solar modules, the EU is going to terminate its existing antidumping measures and throw open the doors to its market.
Concluded in June, the inter-institutional agreement on the review of the renewable energies directive provides for a binding objective of 32% of renewable energy by 2030 (see EUROPE 12041). It authorises households to sell the electricity they produce from solar panels while obtaining at least the market price. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)