(ANSA) - ROME, APR 16 - The European Commission has announced investigations into wind farms in several EU member states, fearing unfair competition from Chinese subsidies. Beijing, however, lashed out at the bloc's "protectionist" behaviour - putting pressure on EU-China relations.
    Over-reliance.
    Last week, the EU announced investigations into Chinese suppliers of wind turbines in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria, the latest move by Brussels targeting the country over green tech subsidies suspected of undermining fair competition.
    The bloc's competition chief, European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, announced the inquiry during a speech at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in the US state of New Jersey.
    "China is for us simultaneously a partner in fighting climate change, an economic competitor, a systemic rival. And the last two dimensions are increasingly converging," Vestager said in her speech.
    According to industry lobby group WindEurope, Chinese wind turbines are currently being offered in Europe at prices up to 50 percent lower than European-made ones, at a time when Brussels is seeking a major increase in renewable energy with the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In its renewable energy production, the EU seeks to move away from over-reliance on cheaper Chinese technology.
    In Spain, for example, the China Three Gorges Group is involved in the sales processes of two major renewable energy projects currently underway in the Spanish market, which together represent around 1,500 MW of green power. In both bids, the group is competing with some of the big names in European electricity, such as Naturgy, Engie and Verbund.
    On Friday, China's commerce minister accused the European Commission of pursuing "protectionist" actions at the expense of green initiatives by launching investigations into Chinese subsidies.
    "We can't understand how the European Commission on the one hand carries the flag for green sustainable development and on the other hand undertakes protectionist operations," China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said at an Italy-China economic forum in the city of Verona.
    France's Le Maire: "Europe must regain economic power".
    Fearful of the impact on their own economies, the EU and the United States are keeping a close eye on Beijing's growing economic advance.
    "Our economies cannot absorb this. It is not only dangerous for our competitiveness. It also jeopardises our economic security.
    We have seen how one-sided dependencies can be used against us.
    And this is why Europe, and not only the US, is reacting," Vestager said in New Jersey.
    The EU's probe into wind parks comes on the heels of recent criticism from the US over China's excess industrial capacity.
    US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently said that Washington "will not accept" underpriced Chinese goods flooding the global market.
    The US is concerned that Beijing's subsidies are leading to more production capacity than global markets can take in, resulting in a surge of cheap exports in sectors such as solar and electric vehicles and thus stifling the growth of those industries elsewhere.
    Last week, the Economy Ministers of Germany, France and Italy - the three largest economies in the eurozone - met near Paris for the third trilateral meeting on Europe's economic power and current challenges to economic security - including from China.
    "Europe must regain economic power, it must regain risk and innovation, and it must regain prosperity," French Minister for the Economy and Finances, Bruno Le Maire, said. "No one can accept that Europeans see their relative prosperity diminished compared to that of Americans." He added that China and the US "will not give Europe any discounts" and stressed that "there is not a second to lose" in defining an EU economic strategy.
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    (The content is based on news by agencies participating in the enr, in this case AFP, Agerpres, ANSA, dpa, EFE, PAP). (ANSA).