EU launches first ever WTO challenge against UK after Brexit Britain ‘failed to give satisfactory response’
The European Union confirmed it has launched the bloc’s first ever challenge against the UK at the World Trade Organization over Britain’s green subsidy program.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body that oversees the common trade policy for all member states, argues that criteria that were used by the British government in awarding subsidies for offshore wind power projects favoured UK-based companies and entities.
“This policy violates the WTO’s core tenet that imports must be able to compete on an equal footing with domestic products and harms EU suppliers, including many SMEs, in the green energy sector,” the Commission explained in a statement.
The Commission also stressed that UK’s policy increases the cost of production and risk slowing down the deployment of green energy.
It added that the European Union had raised its concerns to the UK government but Britain ‘failed to give a satisfactory response,” the statement read.
WTO normally challenges kick off with a formal 60-day period of consultations between the parties involved.
If they do not resolve the dispute, the EU can request that a WTO panel rule on the matter. The WTO typically takes years to resolve such disputes.