A major European company risks losing a €320 million EU-funded contract in Senegal to a state-owned, heavily subsidised Chinese competitor, according to an internal document seen by *Euractiv.*
China’s CRRC has taken the lead over Sweden’s Scania and another Chinese manufacturer, King Long, in the competition for the public transport project in the capital, Dakar, after submitting a bid priced at less than half that of its rivals.
The contract is financed by a consortium of European institutions, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission, France’s AFD and Germany’s KfW, and covers the supply of 380 compressed natural gas buses.
Anger in Brussels is mounting, as many criticise that EU public money meant to support development in Africa could end up benefiting subsidised Chinese state-owned companies.
“It’s completely mad,” Kristoffer Storm, a Danish conservative MEP told *Euractiv*, adding that he would seek answers from the Commission.
Sandro Gozi, a liberal MEP close to French President Emmanuel Macron, also said the EU should not be a bystander in how its funds are used.
“If Europe is serious about strategic autonomy, it cannot remain neutral when its own money is on the table,” he said, adding that “EU-backed financing should come with a clear European preference.”
TheBatz_ on
I mean… it kinda just shows that the EU-funded contract was a bit of an industry subsidy to European firms because they expected a European firm to win.
2 Comments
A major European company risks losing a €320 million EU-funded contract in Senegal to a state-owned, heavily subsidised Chinese competitor, according to an internal document seen by *Euractiv.*
China’s CRRC has taken the lead over Sweden’s Scania and another Chinese manufacturer, King Long, in the competition for the public transport project in the capital, Dakar, after submitting a bid priced at less than half that of its rivals.
The contract is financed by a consortium of European institutions, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission, France’s AFD and Germany’s KfW, and covers the supply of 380 compressed natural gas buses.
Anger in Brussels is mounting, as many criticise that EU public money meant to support development in Africa could end up benefiting subsidised Chinese state-owned companies.
“It’s completely mad,” Kristoffer Storm, a Danish conservative MEP told *Euractiv*, adding that he would seek answers from the Commission.
Sandro Gozi, a liberal MEP close to French President Emmanuel Macron, also said the EU should not be a bystander in how its funds are used.
“If Europe is serious about strategic autonomy, it cannot remain neutral when its own money is on the table,” he said, adding that “EU-backed financing should come with a clear European preference.”
I mean… it kinda just shows that the EU-funded contract was a bit of an industry subsidy to European firms because they expected a European firm to win.