European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underlined on Wednesday during her State of the Union speech that fairness in the global economy is important.
For that reason, Von der Leyen announced that the Commission is launching an "anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles coming from China." In the speech, she recalled how subsidies to Chinese companies distorted the European market. "As we do not accept this distortion from the inside in our market, we do not accept this from the outside," she added.
She stressed that Europe welcomes competition, "but not for race to the bottom," and because of this, the bloc will "defend itself from unfair practices." Nonetheless, she noted that having "open lines of communication" with Beijing is also important, as Europe wants to focus on de-risking not decoupling.
