Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the report on the proposal for a Council regulation concerning a temporary defensive mechanism for shipbuilding is extremely important, for shipbuilding is a strategically significant sector in the European Union. I would like to take this opportunity to present the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, which, regrettably, does not coincide with that of the rapporteur. I wish to express my thanks to the rapporteur, Mrs Riis-Jørgensen, for her outstanding work, especially in view of the very short time available to her. I would therefore like to thank her, even though she has difficulty in accepting the legality of this proposal. Naturally, my Committee has examined this issue and concludes that the right legal basis has been selected and that the concerns regarding the proposal's legality are unfounded. I therefore wish to comment briefly on the content of the proposal and the report. It would be remiss of me, however, if I omitted to mention the constructive cooperation with the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy. I think we have put forward a sound proposal. I very much hope, too, that the Commission will adopt the amendments proposed by this House. The conclusions of the Industry and Energy Council of 5 December 2000, in accordance with the 1998 Council decision, confirmed the ending of operating aid for shipbuilding from 1 January 2001. However, it was pointed out at the time that if the negotiations with Korea failed, the Commission could adopt a different position after a review. We must recognise that Korea has failed to honour the 2000 agreement in terms of price discipline and subsidies. The Commission therefore had to examine whether, in the event of the failure of negotiations with Korea, which continues to violate current trade agreements by granting state subsidies, a temporary defensive mechanism should be proposed for European shipbuilding. The proposal has now been submitted because the negotiations failed, and the proposed defensive mechanism must be evaluated. From the Committee's point of view, the proposal is inadequate, as it is restricted solely to container ships and tankers for transporting petroleum products and chemicals (excluding stainless steel tankers). The proposal allows operating aid of 6% and, in special cases, of up to 14%. A dispute settlement procedure is also to be initiated before the World Trade Organisation (WTO). These aid measures are to be applicable only until the conclusion of proceedings, that is, until 31 December 2002 at the latest. We believe that the European Parliament should maintain its position that a dispute settlement procedure should be initiated. However, this proposal on a temporary defensive mechanism is in need of improvement, since the three segments referred to only account for 20% of European shipbuilding. Yet almost every segment in the European Union is affected by Korea's unfair competition practices. In particular, those categories of ships which will also be the subject of the complaint to the WTO must be included. Only then will our message to Korea be clear and convincing. In this respect, Commissioner, I believe that your support for Amendments Nos 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is essential. The duration envisaged is also inadequate, in our view. We therefore propose that the defensive mechanism should be applicable at least for the duration of the current Regulation on aid to shipbuilding, Regulation 1540/98, which expires on 31 December 2003, or possibly until the conclusion of the WTO proceedings. As the European Parliament, and as the European Union, we must not allow unfair trade practices to damage European business and put jobs at risk. Otherwise, these unfair practices will emerge in other sectors too, impeding growth and threatening jobs. At the same time, however, we must strike a careful balance between justified defensive mechanisms and anti-market protectionism benefiting certain sectors through State aid, which impedes fair competition. I believe that the Committee's proposal takes account of these concerns. I would ask you to support the draft report, and I appeal to the Commission to state its willingness to adopt the amendments.

Political group: PSE