The new measures that the European Commission wants to take against forced labor are raising reluctance in the world of photovoltaics.
The European Commission presented a text in September 2022 which should prohibit the entry into the territory of the Union of products resulting, partially or totally, from forced labor. A measure which, in principle, is obviously unanimous, but which nevertheless sees certain economic players stiffening. This is the case of the world of solar energy, which is trying to propose less firm measures against forced labor instead.
Lobbying by SolarPower Europe
The production of photovoltaic panels is, according to the Global Slavery Index for the year 2023, the fourth type of product most affected by forced labor in imports from G20 countries. A situation caused in particular by China’s domination in the sector, with a third of the basic material used in the manufacture of these panels, polysilicon, coming from Xinjiang, where the Uighur minority is said to be subjected to forced labor.
It is therefore not surprising that the solar lobby, the SolarPower Europe association, which brings together some 600 companies in the sector, criticizes the initiative. She thus attacked an addition made by the European Parliament, which reverses the burden of proof in the most dangerous situations. In these particular cases, it would be up to companies to show that they do not integrate products resulting from forced labor into their supply chains.
Businesses advocate gentler measures
“ It is not clear how companies can legally demonstrate that their product is compliant. […] We fear this will unfairly slow down the deployment of solar energy » explained the association to the newspaper The world.
Instead, SolarPower Europe advocates for measures already present in its Solar Stewardship Initiative program. It consists of the implementation of efforts “ targeted » from companies in the sector. They thus wish to be rather the object of a “ verification by an independent third party. »
Problem is, in the case of regions like Xinjiang, the authorities do not allow outside observers to enter. This type of procedure is therefore impossible to deploy. It now remains to be seen whether the activism of the solar lobby will have effects on legislation, at a time when photovoltaics are the subject of major projects.
Source : The world
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