BRUSSELS — Two groups of bidders for a Romanian solar power park will be probed by the European Commission to check if they received unfair foreign state subsidies, regulators’ latest use of a new tool to clamp down on European producers’ Chinese rivals.
The investigations center on LONGi Solar Technologie GmbH, the “newly established” German unit of Hong-Kong traded LONGi Green Energy Technology, and two companies belonging to Chinese state-owned Shanghai Electric Group and ultimately “subordinate to the China Central People’s Government,” the Commission said.
“There are sufficient indications that both have been granted foreign subsidies that distort the internal market,” the EU executive said.
Regulators have until early August to conclude their inquiries. Companies now have to declare any foreign state subsidies or ownership when they bid for a public procurement project in the EU.
