Protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Union. Codification

In accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 and Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 of the European Parliament and of the Council, the Commission has presented its 35th annual report on the EU's anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard activities (2016).

Investigations and measures: 2016 saw a slight increase in the number of new investigations opened, against the backdrop of a prolonged crisis caused largely by industrial overcapacities in China, notably in, but not limited to, the steel sector.

In 2016, 15 new investigations were initiated (12 concerned the sector of steel and metals), while there were 9 re-openings of cases to implement judicial findings.

There was a slight decrease in the number of provisional and definitive measures imposed as well as the number of review investigations opened. At the same time, many of the investigations conducted, notably those in the steel sector, have been very complex and resource-intensive. This was the case for trade defence investigations into hot rolled coils, the expiry review on solar panels and the investigation concerning concrete reinforcing bars and rods.

Legislative measures: 2016 was marked by the preparation for, and adoption by the Commission of, a legislative proposal to change the EU's trade defence legislation in order to ensure that the EU would be equipped with sufficiently robust instruments to deal with the challenges faced by industry. The main elements of the proposal are:

• the introduction of a new anti-dumping methodology to capture market distortions linked to state intervention in third countries;
• strengthening the anti-subsidy instrument to increase the EU's ability to capture the full magnitude of subsidisation (by making it possible to address also subsidies which were identified only in the course of an investigation).

At the same time, the Commission actively engaged with the Council in relation to the proposal on the modernisation of trade defence instruments. These efforts culminated in the Council reaching a position at the end of 2016, allowing for the ordinary legislative procedure to progress.

Follow-up of measures: follow-up activities concerning measures in force were centred on four main areas: (1) to pre-empt fraud; (2) to monitor trade flows and market developments; (3) to improve the effectiveness with the appropriate instruments and (4) to react to irregular practices. These activities enabled the Commission - in cooperation with Member States - to pro-actively ensure the proper enforcement of trade defence measures in the European Union.

Market economy status (MES): during 2016, dedicated discussions regarding the MES process for China, Vietnam, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia were put on hold while the Commission considered making changes to the EU's anti-dumping legislation which could have an impact on the legislative framework applicable to these countries.

In December 2016, Belarus signalled its intention to engage in the MES process.

Information and dialogue with third countries: during 2016, the SME Helpdesk continued to deal with requests for information relating to the trade defence instruments.

The Commission organized its yearly training seminar on trade defence for officials from third countries (participants from Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and the WTO secretariat). In addition, there were a number of other bilateral contacts dedicated to discussing various trade defence topics with a number of third countries including China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, USA, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, Canada, India, and Switzerland.