EU storms Chinese company offices, seizes phones & IT gears without prior notice
Chinese chamber of commerce "shocked" by Brussels's weaponization of foreign subsidy investigation in the Netherlands, Poland
In an unprecedented escalation of what the European Commission frames as an inspection related to “foreign subsidies,” the bloc’s officials raided the Dutch and Polish offices of an unnamed Chinese company with no prior warning, seized phones and IT equipment, and demanded access to sensitive data.
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the European Union (CCCEU) reports on Tuesday that “Without prior notice, enforcement agencies authorized by the European Commission conducted raids at the company's offices in both countries in the morning. They seized the company's IT equipment and employees' mobile phones, scrutinized office documents, and demanded access to pertinent data.”
The executive branch of the European Union, in a statement offering few details, claims its “unannounced inspections” are based “indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that could distort the internal market pursuant to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation.”
The physical intrusion, conducted with “counterparts from the national competition authorities of the Member States,” however, is just “a preliminary investigative step,” Brussels says, and “that the Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the company in question has indeed received distortive foreign subsidies, nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation.”
The CCCEU, representing Chinese businesses in the 27-member trading bloc, says the raid “manifested a clear intention to weaponize the Foreign Subsidies Regulation tool to suppress lawfully operating Chinese companies in Europe” and “expresses serious concern over the EU conducting unjustifiable ‘dawn raids’ to the Chinese enterprises' establishments in the EU.”
Brussels has not disclosed the national origin of the company it stormed, but characterized the unnamed company as “active in the production and sale of security equipment in the European Union.” The CCCEU has identified the company as Chinese and the raided offices are located in the Netherlands and Poland.
The shocking development came after the EU initiated four investigations over the last two months under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation - all aimed at Chinese firms, the CCCEU added.