From facilitator to regulator: Assessing the CEE’s ability to achieve technology transfer from Chinese EV producers

Résumé:

The European Commission's imposition of countervailing duties on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) has been justified primarily on the grounds of addressing illegal subsidies provided by the Chinese state to these companies. Nevertheless, subsequent remarks from European officials and analysts have introduced additional rationales, such as the necessity to encourage Chinese EV manufacturers to establish production facilities within the European Union, thereby facilitating technology transfer. As many Chinese EV producers are currently developing new factories in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), it is essential for policymakers in these countries to enact laws and regulations that promote technology transfer.

This paper adopts a typology developed to analyze state interactions with global value chains, which identified four principal categories: facilitator, regulator, producer, and buyer. In the CEE region, post-communist states have historically functioned as facilitators, driving foreign investment by accommodating the strategic needs of foreign capital through neoliberal economic policies. However, effective technology transfer necessitates a shift towards a regulatory role, wherein the state must impose restrictions on firm activities or encourage actions that may not align with their immediate economic interests.

This paper aims to analyze the challenges faced by CEE politicians in adopting the role of a regulator and implementing meaningful policies to facilitate technology transfer within the EV industry. The analysis will concentrate on two primary areas: geopolitical alignment—specifically, the reluctance of certain countries to alienate China by mandating technology transfer—and the difficulty of transcending the traditional facilitator role, as these politicians have often been socialized within the prevailing neoliberal framework that dominates post-communist policymaking. In conclusion, it will assess the probability of a successful technology transfer from Chinese EV manufacturers in the region and discuss its implications at the EU level.