Political momentum is swaying in favour of European solar panel manufacturers, as planned new EU law banning forced labour practices would effectively block Chinese imports (www.euractiv.com)

submitted 8 months ago by 0x815@feddit.de to c/europe@feddit.de

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“There is no country around the globe where this crime [of state-sponsored forced labour] is committed so forcefully as in the People’s Republic of China and in the Xinjang autonomous region in particular,” said Reinhard Bütikofer, a green EU lawmaker who spoke at a conference convened by the European Solar Manufacturers Council (ESMC) in Brussels on Thursday (15 February).

“What they do is clearly in a league of its own,” added the German lawmaker, who is among a group of MEPs sanctioned by the Chinese government for being critical of Beijing.

EU institutions are currently set to start negotiations on a forced labour regulation, proposed in 2022 – a law that could translate the widespread practices in China into what may amount to a ban on Chinese solar modules.

The US adopted a similar law in 2022 – which led to the Volkswagen cars stuck in port.

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[-] XenGi@lemmy.chaos.berlin 33 points 8 months ago

I would really like my solar panels to be slavery free please. If that means that we have to recreate the lost jobs in the european solar industry they we have up when we outsourced everything to China a few years ago, in totally fine with that.

[-] 5ibelius9insterberg@feddit.de 18 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Maybe not, thanks to Christian "problems-are-just-thorny-opportunities" Lindner:

"Last week the German government sent shockwaves through Brussels by withdrawing its support for a piece of legislation that it had long appeared to back: the EU’s new supply chain law."

🤷‍♂️ https://archive.is/ymCAM <- financial times

[-] letmesleep@feddit.de 10 points 8 months ago

As far as I've read China is systematically discriminating against foreign companies via a biased justice system. To a lesser degree countries like the US do it as well.

Applying strict human rights standards could be a great way to counteract against these discrimiantions. Not just from China, even some American practices might be enough.

this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2024

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