Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-19-Speech-5-053"
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"en.19991119.4.5-053"2
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"Commissioner Liikanen, for many years, firstly as a member of the “economic” committee and now as a member of the “industry” committee, I have been dealing with issues involving the shipbuilding industry.
That is why, finally, it is time to quite simply have done with the
attitude which characterised the Brittan era. Are Europe and the new Commission prepared to do so today? Permit me, Commissioner Liikanen, to ask you the question once again.
More particularly, over the last three years, I have, on several occasions, expressed concern to the Commission about distortions of competition at world level, made worse by the fact that Europe has always set itself strict standards which our competitors prefer to ignore. What is more, in many cases the only response I received from the Commissioners and their departments was a blunt refusal to acknowledge the problem.
The Commission seems now to have become aware of the situation, and I am delighted to see this because, while one may regret the thousands upon thousands of jobs in Europe which have been lost in the meantime, as we say in French, “better late than never”. Today there no longer seems to be any point in going back over past problems and that is why, this morning, I shall ask you some specific questions about the future which are not just concerned with Korea.
The first question concerns the United States. I have learnt that an American shipyard, one which has not built any vessels for more than forty years, has received the order for two passenger boats intended to serve the islands of Hawaii, since American law reserves the construction of boats serving internal routes for American shipyards. What do you plan to do about this? What does the European Union plan to do in order to open up the American market to European products in this field?
This is my second question. If my information is accurate, a proportion of the wages of workers involved in the construction of these passenger boats is paid by the United States Navy, on the grounds of the preservation of shipbuilding capacity. What do you plan to do, Commissioner, on the matter of this American aid which does not seem to be compatible with the regulations in force in this field?
My third question is to do with Korea. Since 1997, the Korean Gas Company
has been restricting tender competitions for the construction of methane carriers to Korean shipyards only, again constituting, in my opinion, an infringement of the international regulations on the opening up of public procurement. I ask you once again, Commissioner, what do you plan to do in order to open up the Korean market and fight against these decisions which do not appear to me to be legal?
My fourth question relates to the matter you referred to in your preliminary speech. We have learnt or, to be more precise, we have received confirmation that the European Commission had in hand the first part of the report on the market situation drawn up in application of the Council Regulation which you mentioned. This report indicates an anti-competitive practice by Korean shipbuilders, of between 13% and 14% of Korean costs of production. As you mentioned, the question arises as to who pays the differences observed by the Commission between Korean costs of production and sale prices? The answer seems obvious. It is the Korean banking system, supported moreover by the IMF and the Korean State. Until now, in spite of a number of reminders in this field, since it is not a new matter, the European Union and the Commission have taken no effective action to put an end to these indirect subsidies in Korea. What tangible action do you plan to take today in order to act rapidly?
I shall conclude, Commissioner, by telling you that it is true that the European shipbuilding industry still receives aid. Not a lot, but some. In any case, it is scheduled that aid for orders will come to an end in December next year and I do not think we can reconcile ourselves to a
policy.
That is why I am asking you, Commissioner, to at last draw up a trade policy worthy of the name. That is why I am suggesting that you do not carry on saying, or having people say, that we do not have the instruments which would enable us to defend European jobs better in this sector. That is why it is no longer possible to let constraints be placed on Europe which are not placed on our industrial competitors elsewhere in the world, in the shipbuilding sector as in many others."@en1
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