EU unveils plan to counter US green subsidies, China competition

The EU on Wednesday unveiled proposals to counter the threat to European industry from US green subsidies and unfair competition from China, with measures including a controversial expansion of state aid. The bloc is racing to compete with the United States and China to avoid businesses relocating to Asia or North America where energy costs are cheaper, but there has been division among EU member states on how to respond. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the bloc's proposals but said there would be no immediate new EU funding. "At the moment we need to work with what we have right now. And focus it on the cleantech industry," she said. The majority of the EU's response involves repackaging already existing funds, a stop-gap measure that has earned much criticism. German MEP Markus Ferber described the proposals on Wednesday as "old wine in new bottles" and "predictably disappointing". Von der Leyen left the door open to a new EU sovereignty fund being created in the future. But that idea has already been strongly opposed by some member states including Denmark and Finland which oppose throwing money at the problem, or boosting borrowing to resolve...