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NoC249/10 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 13.9.93
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveamendingCouncilDirective90/684/EEC
onaidtoshipbuilding {l)
(93/C249/06)
On10May1993theCouncildecided,inaccordancewithArticle198oftheTreatyestablishing
theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,toconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon2June1993.TheRapporteur
wasMrArena.
Atits307thPlenarySession(meetingof30June1993)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.TheCommitteeendorsesthepragmatismofthe
CommissioninproposingthattheSeventhDirectivebe
extendedforjustonemoreyearasasignofgoodwill
ontheeveoftheresumptionofnegotiationsofthe
OrganizationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelop­
ment(OECD)aimedatspeedinguptheabolitionof
allaidtotheshipbuildingsector.TheSectionwould
neverthelessliketomakeanumberofcommentson
developments inthesector.forthecompetitiveness oftheCommunity'seconomy
—hasalreadycomeoutinfavour(2)ofaradicalshift
inattitudeinordertorelaunchsectorswhichhavebeen
ailingfortoolong.TothisendtheCommitteehas
arguedthecaseforan'assault'policythatpaysparticu­
larattentiontothe'socialdimension'oftheproblems
tobetackled.
3.2.Itishopedthatthecurrentinvestigationinto
theoperationalaspectsofsuchapolicywillconfirm,
interalia,theneedtoencouragethebuildingofnew
vesselstoreplacetheageingfleet;thisshouldalsobe
oneofthemainobjectivesofthecommonpolicyon
thesafetyofworkatseaandtheprotectionofthe
marineenvironment,currentlybeingdrawnup.
3.3.Inotherwordsshipbuildingpolicyshouldbe
reviewedinthecourseofthenexttwelvemonthsin
thelightofmarkettrendsandtheoutcomeofthe
abovementioned negotiations .2.Inthefirstthreemonthsof1993ordersfornew
vesselsfellbyabout40%,followingadeclinein1992
of25%.Thisfallindemand—attributableinlarge
parttothecontinueduseofoldandfrequentlysub­
standardvessels,therebyexertingdownwardpressure
onfreightrates—hasbeenaccompaniedbyadropin
dollarpricesofatleast15%.
2.1.Asfarastheoutlookforthefutureisconcerned,
wecanreadinthecurrentproposalforaDirectivethat
'theprospectsforamarketupturnintheimmediate
shorttermappearuncertainatpresent'butthatthe
'situationshouldimprovemarkedlyinthemediumto
longterm,giventheneedtomodernizetheageingworld
fleet'.3.4.Theabovementioned parametersshoulddeter­
minethelevelofproductionaidfor1994(aidbeingin
steadydeclineonlyintheCommunity,fallinginthe
lasttwoyearstobarely9%,andto4.5%forsmall
ships),whilstitisalsonecessarytoprovidesupportfor
ship-repairing inviewoftheaforesaid(seepoint3.2)
commonpolicyonsafetyandthemarineenvironment .3.Giventhismarketsituationandthefactthatthere
isasyetnohintofashiftinthenegotiatingpositions
ofotherOECDcountries(i.e.theUSAwillkeepits
famousJonesActandJapanandKoreatheir'home
creditschemes'),thereisnojustificationwhatsoever
forprejudgingthedevelopmentoftheCommunity's
maritimepolicy,asdeterminedbytheMaritimeIndus­
triesForum.
3.1.InrespectofthislastpointtheCommittee—
awareoftheimportanceofaneffectivemaritimesystem4.Thankstotheproceduresadheredtosofarin
applyingthedirectivesonshipyards,ithasbeenpossible
topursuethelonganddifficultprocessofrestructuring
aCommunityshipbuildingindustrywhich(andthis
mustbeunderlined)haslostmorethan60%ofits
workforce .
(2)AdditionalOpinionontheCommissionCommunication on
theNewChallengesforMaritimeIndustries(OJNoC223,
(*)OJNoC126,7.5.1993,p.24. 31.8.1992).
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13.9.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC249/11
4.1.Itiscertainlynotpossibletosaythatthegoal
ofmaintaininganeffective,competitiveshipbuilding
industryintheCommunityhasbeenachievedoris
justroundthecorner.Thescopeforreducingpro­
ductioncostsby,inparticular,integratingshipbuilding
firmsandsub-contractors hasstilltobeexploited
whilst,structurally,weareconfrontednotonlywith
thedelicatetaskofmodernizingtheshipyardsofthe
ex-DDR(1),butalsotheconcreteandforbidding
prospectofhavingtoconvertasignificantproportion
ofCommunitynavalshipyards,whicharefrequentlylocatedinthesameareaasmerchantshipyardsand/
orhavethesameowners.
4.2.Theimpactonemploymentisagainlikelytobe
considerable ,despitetherecentlyannouncedlaunchof
theCommunity'sKonverprogramme .
5.Inconclusion,themultilateralnegotiationson
phasingoutallpublicaidtoshipbuildingmustbe
conductedbytheCommissionwithallseriousnessof
purposebutwithoutdistortionsliabletoprejudicethe
interestsoftheCommunity'sshipbuildingindustryand
itsnumerousancillaryfirms;strategicandotherlinks
withtheothermajorcomponentsoftheEuropean
maritimeeconomy(Communityfleet,portnetwork,
marineenvironment),willalsohavetobetakeninto
consideration .(*)OpinionontheProposalforaCouncilDirectiveproviding
forchangestotheSeventhCouncilDirectiveonaidtoship­
buildingof21December1990(OJNoC287,4.11.1992).
i •
DoneatBrussels,30June1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
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