BRUSSELS — Goodbye and goodnight.

That’s the European Union's veiled message to its dying solar manufacturers in a draft declaration seen by POLITICO.

Chinese mass manufacturing has brought Europe's solar makers to their knees and had prompted them to turn to Brussels for help. But while the European Commission, the EU's executive, is set to back increased EU funding for the solar sector and consider relaxing some state aid rules, it won't commit to the urgent support measures industry leaders want, according to the upcoming “European Solar Charter.”

The approach will inevitably disappoint manufacturers who have already begun laying off hundreds of workers, even as it tries to craft a long-term plan to revive the industry.

The EU's module producers — which assemble the final solar panel from parts made elsewhere — have warned for months that China’s dominance over manufacturing globally was causing a supply glut in the bloc that’s seen prices tumble and left them unable to compete.

In response, EU energy chief Kadri Simson vowed earlier this month to work on “concrete actions to support … production here in Europe.”

That comes as the bloc seeks to gain a foothold in the global green tech race against the United States and China, which have poured billions into local manufacturing. 

Brussels wants to bring 30 gigawatts of solar production back to the bloc by 2030 — a bid to limit its reliance on Beijing. China currently supplies over 80 percent of EU imports, while the bloc produced just 3 percent of its solar panels last year.

This dependence “creates short-term risks for the resilience of the value chain and long-term risks for price stability for solar panels,” the declaration seen by POLITICO notes, adding that the “unsustainable situation is weakening the viability of existing European production.”

The Commission will therefore “assess all evidence” of unfair competition, “further facilitate access to EU funding” for manufacturers and work with the European Investment Bank “to reinforce its support” for investments, according to the draft, which is still subject to change. 

The EU executive will also “explore” the possibility of launching a so-called Important Project of Common European Interest for innovative solar tech, the text states, a Brussels scheme allowing cross-border projects to benefit from looser state aid rules. 

Fading sunset

But for the industry, that falls far short of what it says is needed. 

Dries Acke, the policy director at the SolarPower Europe lobby, said that while the trade association would encourage its members to sign up to the Commission’s pledge, “we do need concrete measures to support manufacturers soon.”

“Although the commitments proposed go in the right direction, it is not enough as we need concrete quantitative commitments from [EU] Member States,” said Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, the executive policy advisor at the European Solar Manufacturing Council. “It would be a pity in case this opportunity would not be operationalised.”

That comes as Meyer Burger, Germany’s largest solar module manufacturer, this week began laying off its 500 workers at the firm's plant in the east German city of Freiberg after a lack of support from Berlin and Brussels, a spokesperson for the company told POLITICO. 

For months, producers have called on the Commission to organize an emergency buyout of their inventories and make exemptions to EU rules on government support for operational costs as prices for Chinese modules fell to half the going rates of their European equivalents.

While the declaration “lays the groundwork for some [EU] member states to make decisions that will allow European manufacturing capacity” to continue, said Jenny Chase, a senior analyst at BloombergNEF, it focuses more on future solutions for the sector over short-term support.

“It’s long-term, it’s vague,” she said, and “it’s probably safe to say that it's not exactly what the solar manufacturers wanted.”

And while “the devil is in the implementation,” Chase adds, it leaves little room for the EU to meet its 2030 solar manufacturing goals, as struggling module producers shut up shop.

The Commission, which declined to comment on the draft, is expected to formally present the text in the coming weeks.