The European Commission has proposed to effectively bar Chinese companies from building factories to produce solar panels, electric vehicles and other green technology in Europe, unless the venture is half owned by EU entities. The commission proposal would prevent tax breaks or other subsidies schemes encouraging people in EU states to buy EVs from being spent on Chinese-made EVs. In the last decade China has put a big emphasis on dominating industries central to the climate transition, such as EVs and solar panels. More than 90 per cent of the solar panel modules used in the EU are imported from China. The proposal will now be considered by national governments in the Council of the EU, and the European Parliament.

Source: The Irish Times March 05, 2026 06:03 UTC