Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-14-Speech-3-220"
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"en.20011114.10.3-220"2
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"Mr President, colleagues, honourable Member of the Commission, the European Union and South Korea have been conducting so far fruitless negotiations in order to bring about sound competition into the world shipbuilding market. The Commission has now approved a strategy, according to which the matter will be taken to the WTO dispute settlement procedure. I support this decision and would like to thank all those Members of the Commission who actively contributed to this decision. At the same time, however, the Commission issued a proposal to the effect that operating aid could be allowed to individual shipyards temporarily during the WTO procedure. According to the Commission proposal for a regulation, any arrangements for subsidies would be exceptional and temporary measures and would concern a limited number of ship types only.
At first glance the Commission proposal may seem justified, but in reality it distorts competition both in the world market and even within the EU and lacks any valid legitimate reason. The link between the subsidy mechanism and the WTO procedure is totally artificial. These matters have no natural connection and therefore these questions should be dealt with separately. All of us who are involved in politics understand this: this is politics, not a legal process. If we want to lean on the WTO, we ourselves must act according to the rules set by the WTO. By allocating subsidies, the EU itself is guilty of distorting actions of which it is now accusing Korea. This will bring discredit on us and will weaken our negotiation position within the WTO.
I said that the Commission proposal distorts competition also inside the EU. Even if only certain ship types would receive subsidies, the subsidised shipyards would always benefit from subsidy monies and would therefore have an advantage over other shipyards. In particular this will impede the position of the high technology shipbuilding industry, which for very good reasons has responded to fiercening competition by concentrating especially on products representing more demanding technology. Among others my home country Finland has from the very beginning, as agreed, reduced shipyard subsidies, and we have invested strongly in the building of cruise ships and other high technology vessels. Consequently, through these actions Finnish shipyards have achieved world-wide competitiveness, which the Commission is now trying to take away from us."@en1
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