'I don’t care,' says Bullmann, in controversy over EU development cash going to Chinese company
The Senegalese authorities should use EU development funding to buy Chinese buses if it benefits Senegal’s workforce, senior Socialist MEP Udo Bullmann said.
An EU-tender worth more than €300 million to deliver buses and infrastructure to Dakar, Senegal’s capital, has sparked controversy as the project looks set to be awarded to a company with ties to the Chinese state, previously found to be in violation of the bloc’s rules on foreign subsidies.
While EU officials and parliamentarians have criticised such an outcome, with one calling it “mad”, Bullmann said he would support EU money going to a Chinese state-linked company as long as it benefits local labour.
“The criterion is qualified African labour and produces African added value,” said Bullmann in Brussels on Monday.
