The European subsidiary of the Chinese company Nuctech has announced that it is taking the European Commission to the EU General Court following surprise inspections carried out in April at the company’s Polish and Dutch premises. The EU suspects Nuctech of having benefited from competition-distorting foreign subsidies, and it carried out inspections to verify the facts in April (see EUROPE 13397/32).
The company concerned is partly owned by the Chinese state. It supplies scanners for security checks used in many airports and ports in the EU. Nuctech’s devices are already banned from US airports, as Washington accuses the company of being a threat to national security.
In the case of the inspections carried out by the European Commission, these are preliminary stages before possibly opening an in-depth investigation under the Regulation against unfair foreign subsidies. Nuctech rejects these suspicions and has therefore decided to take the European Commission to the General Court. It also asked the General Court to suspend the inspections carried out by the European Commission. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)