Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-29-Speech-3-195"
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"en.20020529.15.3-195"2
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"Mr President, it really is very late now! I confess that I am tired, but not too tired to fight for jobs in Europe's shipbuilding industry. Over the next few days the whole world – or at least its football fans – will be focussing on Japan and South Korea. However, in view of the shipbuilding situation I would rather avert my gaze from the Far East. The background remains the same – dumping prices in the Korean shipyards. The distortion in competition already described and recently confirmed in a Community report is becoming worse because of the ending of subsidies in Europe. As a consequence, more and more maritime companies are closing down and the many job losses associated with this mean only one thing: the European shipbuilding industry is fighting for its life!
What are we in Europe doing? That is what I am constantly asked as a Member for a coastal area. I feel like telling the people affected that Parliament has done its homework but that the other two key players are neglecting their responsibilities. Let me mention a few points to illustrate why I am so angry. We are now discussing our third resolution in this House and we gave our agreement to time-limited protection measures a long time ago. And yet support for our shipyards has still not been given the go-ahead. Why? Because the Council has still not reached agreement and the Commission unfortunately still has to take into consideration types of ship that are already covered by the WTO complaint. That is why I would like to clearly restate the key points of our common policy here in Parliament.
We urgently need to take action at Community level. This needs to be taken immediately, in the form of a WTO complaint, and, as we have heard, the Council is meeting next week in any case. This Community action needs to go hand in hand with temporary support for Europe's shipyards. Failing that, we will find ourselves playing football without a full defence, at the risk of labouring the footballing analogy. The wheels of the complaint procedure turn very slowly, but meanwhile Europe's shipbuilding sector is dying. We should not underestimate the declaratory effect of a WTO complaint, but at the same time we need to have powerful and immediate measures in reserve. The resolution before you clearly calls for both these things, so that I expect the cross-party amendment to receive broad support in tomorrow's vote."@en1
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