EU and Taiwan reach understanding on WTO dispute over Taiwan’s offshore wind auctions

Sabine Weyand (the director-general for trade in the European Commission) and Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Jyh-Huei Kuo exchanged letters setting out the terms of this understanding.

Taiwan has now committed to introducing greater flexibility in the way the winning projects from the latest auction are taken forward. This added flexibility will effectively address past implementation difficulties faced by offshore wind developers, including those from Europe. 

Another important achievement is Taiwan’s commitment to no longer include localization requirements in future allocation rounds, either as eligibility conditions or as award criteria. 

Provided that Taiwan follows through with the outlined commitments, the EU does not intend to pursue this matter further within the WTO.

Addressing barriers in Taiwan’s offshore wind market is crucial for a sector of strategic importance. The EU wind energy sector alone has an annual turnover of €60 billion (2024 figure) and provided around 300,000 jobs in the EU in 2022. Under the REPowerEU targets, the number of jobs is estimated to increase to 936,000 by 2030.

Next steps

The EU will continue to work with Taiwan to ensure that the agreed way forward is fully implemented.

Background

On 26 July 2024, the EU requested WTO consultations on Taiwan’s offshore wind auctions. The EU challenged the local content eligibility and award criteria, arguing these measures favoured Taiwanese goods and services over imported ones, in breach of WTO non-discrimination rules.

For more information

Trade relations with Taiwan

Exchange of letters between Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Jyh-Huei Kuo, and DG Trade Director-General Sabine Weyand

Consultation request

Dispute Settlement in the EU

WTO procedures flowchart

WTO Dispute Settlement in a Nutshell

WTO cases launched by the EU