On Thursday 7 May, the Chinese authorities strongly condemned the European Commission’s recent decision to limit European funding to solar energy projects that do not use inverters from countries considered to be high-risk.
“China urges the European side to immediately stop the stigmatisation of China as a ‘high-risk country’ and abandon unfair and discriminatory practices against Chinese products”, said a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in a statement quoted by AFP.
European Commission spokeswoman Siobhan McGarry recalled on Monday that the EU institution, in its communication on economic security presented at the end of 2025 (see EUROPE 13765/5), had identified “six areas for immediate action”, including “the risk of disruption of EU’s critical infrastructure by foreign actors”.
“Our assessments have confirmed threats, including on manipulation of electricity production parameters, disruption of electricity generation, and unauthorised access to operational data. This could mean a remote shutdown of Member States’ networks leading to countrywide blackouts”, she justified.
The Commission’s recommendations on inverters, the devices used to transform direct current from solar panels into alternating current transmitted to the grid, are aimed not just at China, but at other countries considered to be at risk - such as North Korea, Iran, and Russia.
According to Mrs McGarry, given “the gravity of these threats”, the Commission has chosen to act immediately, rather than wait for the mid-term review of the Cyber Security Act.
Yvan Verougstraete (Renew Europe, Belgian), Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, welcomed an initiative that “explicitly acknowledges that cybersecurity has become a central pillar of our energy sovereignty”. And he added that: “By conditioning EU funding on strengthened security requirements, the Commission is sending a clear signal. The energy transition cannot come at the expense of our collective security”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)