Most EU Governments Have Yet to Activate Solar Manufacturing Protections Required by Law

Europe’s drive to reduce dependence on imported solar panels is losing momentum before it has fully begun, with the great majority of EU member states yet to apply the procurement rules they are legally required to use.

Under the Net-Zero Industry Act, governments must allocate at least 30% of renewable energy auction capacity — or 6 GW per year — to bids scored on non-price criteria, with those criteria carrying a weighting of 15% to 30%. The mechanism is designed to give European-manufactured equipment a structural edge over lower-cost imports by moving competition beyond price alone.

Only six of the bloc’s 27 members have put the rules into practice: Italy, Austria, France, Ireland, Lithuania and Spain. Among the early movers, Italy has applied the criteria to 1.1 GW of capacity under its FER-X programme; Austria introduced a 20% bonus for equipment bearing a “Made in Europe” label; and Ireland added a 5-percentage-point sustainability score to its standard tender conditions.

The other 21 countries have yet to act, leaving domestic producers competing on price against manufacturers that can consistently undercut them. Until non-price criteria appear in actual tender documents — not just policy statements — local firms have little shelter from that pressure.

The slow rollout suggests that European industrial policy is not keeping pace with the market it is trying to reshape. If governments do not accelerate the shift from legislative intent to concrete auction design, the practical window to build a resilient solar manufacturing base inside the EU will continue to shrink.

Source: pv Europe