European Commission initiates anti-subsidy proceeding
Following a complaint lodged by EBMA on 8 November 2017, the European Commission announced the initiation of an anti-subsidy proceeding concerning imports of electric bicycles from China.
The alleged subsidy practices consist, amon other things, of direct transfers of funds and potential direct transfers of funds or liabilities, government revenue forgone or not collected, and government provision of goods or services for less than adequate remuneration. The complaint contained evidence, for example, of various grants as subsidies for environmental protection and subsidies for technology, innovation and development; provision of loans and credit lines provided by State-owned banks and other financial institutions at preferential terms, and provision of export credits and
export guarantees and insurance by State-owned banks and other financial institutions; income tax reductions and exemptions, import tariff rebates and VAT exemptions and rebates; and government provision of land and energy for less than adequate remuneration.
EBMA alleges that the above measures are subsidies since they involve a financial contribution from the Government of the People’s Republic of China or other regional and local governments (including public bodies) and confer a benefit to the exporting producers of the product under investigation. They are alleged to be limited to certain enterprises or industry or group of enterprises and are therefore specific and countervailable.
The European Commission has concluded that the alleged subsidy amounts appear to be significant and has therefore decided to initiate a proceeding.
We have listed below the essential deadlines for all interested parties to make themselves known to the Commission.
- By 5 January: all exporters or their representatives should make themselves known to the Commission by completing and returning Annex 1 of the Notice.
- By 5 January: all importers should make themselves known to the Commission by completing and returning Annex 1 of the Notice.
- By 5 January: Union producers, importers and their representative associations, users and their representative associations and representative consumer organisations may make themselves known
- By 5 January: all interested parties may request for a hearing
- By 11 January: all interested parties may send in relevant information on the selection of the sample of exporters and/or the selection of the sample of importers.
- By 11 January: all importers should make themselves known to the Commission by completing and returning
- By 11 January: all interested parties may send in relevant information on the sample of Union producers
- contact the Commission as an EU producer if you consider you should be included in the EU producers’ sample
- By 27 January: Union producers, importers and their representative associations, users and their representative associations and representative consumer organisationinterested parties who have made themselves known by 5 January may send in any relevant information on the Union interest
- By 27 January: all interested parties may send in any other relevant information
These deadlines, the relevant Annexes and how and where to submit information is explained in the notice of proceeding, which can be found here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52017XC1221(03)&from=EN
For any further details on this issue, please contact LEVA-EU Manager, Annick Roetynck, email leva-eu@telenet.be, tel. +32 9 233 60 05.