Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-19-Speech-5-059"
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"en.19991119.4.5-059"2
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"Mr President, I find this debate very depressing because we seem to be covering the same old ground, discussing an issue we have dealt with many times before in this Parliament.
I find it depressing because I was born in a small port town where, at the time, there was a boatyard on practically every corner. They were wooden boats. There was a profession, that of boat-builder, which was a proud profession. I realise that progress is inevitable and that it is not possible for such a profession to be maintained today, but the situation is alarming. The fact that Europe will end up with no shipbuilding industry is worrying. It was we Europeans who opened up the world through navigation: the Scandinavians in the North, the Portuguese and Spanish towards America, Africa and Asia, the Dutch, the Danish, the English and the French have sailed all the oceans in ships built on our lands and in our shipyards.
At the moment we live in a globalised economy, which means that rationalisation is needed and that is why a series of restructurings has been undertaken. However, I believe we are reaching a limit. Specifically, the disappearance of all types of aid on 31 December 2000 is going to cause a problem. Although I agree with some of the previous speakers, such as Mrs Kauppi, that it is not good to maintain a subsidy system, in the long run this situation clearly harms the sector itself. Furthermore, we have been abolishing subsidies in the shipbuilding sector, yet it has continued to fall apart.
At the moment the shipbuilding sector is in tatters. Wherever you go there is a closed shipyard and thousands of people who have lost their jobs. For example, since 1984
(Spanish Shipyards) has undergone three restructurings. Last Wednesday there were worker demonstrations in Spain, in all the shipbuilding cities – Bilbao, Cádiz, Puerto Real, Seville and Asturias – accompanied by a considerable degree of violence, because we are threatening the lives and security of many millions of homes.
There is another problem. In this globalised economy, it is good that subsidies should disappear, but not when there are some countries which still have them. This also raises another question – as some speakers such as Mrs McKenna have said: Is it a good thing that some countries such as Korea maintain this policy? I believe that if we look at the figures properly, it is clear that if ships are sold at less than they cost to make, the country is losing out. Therefore, that policy harms that country and its workers. Let us remember that a few years ago the Korean workers took to the streets to ask for equal status. The general theme of globalisation – as the Commissioner knows – is being discussed at the moment or will be discussed in the World Trade Organisation. I think that this is one of the questions which should concern us.
The European shipbuilding industry is threatened from all sides. Some of the speakers – Mrs McKenna herself I believe – have referred to the crisis in the fishing industry. It appears that the ideal is the destruction of the Community fishing fleet. For transport – including oil-tanker traffic – there are flags of convenience. But even the few ships which sail under the European flag have to be manufactured outside Europe, because it appears we are not capable of withstanding distorted competition.
Therefore, on behalf of the Spaniards who at the moment are enormously worried about this issue, I hope that the Commission will communicate our concern to the Council, our disagreement with the latest resolutions of the Council of Ministers for Industry – which seems prepared to adopt a meekly
approach and abandon the little which remains of the European shipbuilding sector – and our hope that either measures will be taken to prevent the unfair competition which is occurring or, if not, that steps will be taken to restore Community aid to compensate for the cases of inequality, incompetence and bad practice which are occurring today in all shipbuilding centres."@en1
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"Astilleros Españoles"1
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