Von der Leyen urges EU to confront Chinese cleantech ‘dominance’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on the European Union (EU) to take a stand against China’s dominance in the production of clean technologies ahead of a trip to the Asian country.

In a debate in the European Parliament at last week’s leaders’ summit, the chairperson of the community’s executive reviewed the initiatives she had recently presented to improve Europe’s competitiveness against powers like the United States or China, which were the topic of the leaders’ meeting.

Von der Leyen, who is visiting China on April 4, stressed that Beijing is now the “biggest producer” of clean technologies on a large scale, from batteries to solar panels through electrolysers and heat pumps, which is “particularly worrisome” due to the expansion that renewable energy will suffer, “which will correspond to a 90% expansion of world electricity production in the next five years.”

“In other words: China will benefit the most from this expansion, and if we do not act now, Chinese dominance in the clean tech value chain will only increase,” the German politician warned.

Most European companies in the sector that leave the EU do so when they want to grow, moving towards greater commercial adoption of the new technologies they develop, Von der Leyen recalled.

The head of the European Commission stressed that in order to mitigate this effect, Brussels proposed a “Zero Emissions Industries Law”, which aims to create the right conditions for further growth in production in the EU.

This measure, which aims for the EU to produce 30% of the clean technologies it consumes on its territory by 2030, is complemented by a new Law on Critical Raw Materials, which also aims to encourage the extraction, processing and processing of these elements in the EU and create new alliances with reliable partners to diversify supplies.

Although relations with China were not on the agenda of the summit held last Thursday and Friday, this topic was raised after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and in connection with the president’s upcoming visits to Beijing. Macron and von der Leyen, on the one hand, and the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, on the other.

“With regard to China, we are facing the reality as it is today: it is an important trading partner that has become more assertive and demanding, so we must clearly define our role. We want to reduce risk, not separate from it.” This was stated, in turn, by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who had already visited Xi Jinping on December 1.

Among the MEPs who raised the issue of China during parliamentary debates, EPP leader (centre-right) Manfred Weber considered the European presence in the Asian country “good” but questioned whether the EU would go for a “common voice” as it still hasn’t formulated a common policy for China.

“After Xi’s visit to Moscow, we cannot afford to speak to China from a position of weakness, without a clear position. We need European missions to China, not national or personal trips that undermine unity. Europe in the eyes of the world”, defended Weber.

On other issues, von der Leyen assured that the EU will continue to support Ukraine “at any cost” and called the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin “a step forward.”

Von der Leyen also stressed that the international community must do everything possible to return home all Ukrainian children who have been illegally deported to Russia since the beginning of the war.

Charles Michel hailed the commitment of European leaders to send additional weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, which is “a big step towards a European defense system.”