l'Actualité du Solaire

A draft regulation banning the entry into the EU of products subject to forced labour in their supply chains was adopted yesterday by the EU's Internal Market and International Trade Committees. The proposed regulation

introduce a framework for investigating companies' supply chains for the use of forced labour and ban the import and export of any goods that have been produced using such practices.

The committees also recommended that goods withdrawn from the market should only be allowed back in once the company has proved that it no longer uses forced labour and remedied all relevant cases.

Last month, the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) published an open letter to the EU calling for a ban on the sale of solar modules suspected of being manufactured using forced labour.

https://www.pv-tech.org/eu-to-ban-import-and-export-of-products-made-with-forced-labour/

PV Tech of 17 October 2023

Editor's note Dealing with the import of panels manufactured in China's Xinjiang region is not the same as the emergency facing European panel manufacturers. They are being attacked by massive and exaggerated imports of old-generation panels, which are then sold off at prices well below the market price.

It is curious that the problem still exists but has disappeared from the media spotlight.

The United States has found that the Chinese are sufficiently flexible and skilful to get round the American rules. Europeans, despite their good will, are not equipped to compete on equal terms with Chinese manufacturers. So to want to introduce rules, laws and directives to believe that the problem will be solved is a very European illusion!