Paris to everyone: Buy French solar panels, forget all competitors

Le Maire’s urgings may run afoul of EU rules. In principle, the EU bans measures that favor one country’s companies over another for public contracts.

The move also comes shortly after the EU finalized the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which indirectly encourages EU countries to buy European solar panels, something France desired.

France wants to produce 40 percent of the solar panels it uses locally, Le Maire said, presenting it as an NZIA goal. However, the EU law set production targets for the entire bloc, not individual countries.

France is also providing state aid to several solar projects in the country, including tax credits worth up to €200 million for two solar panel factories. And it’s easing rules to install solar panels on farmland.

In parallel, the European Commission earlier this week launched a probe into Chinese-owned solar power in Romania over alleged illegal subsidies.