WRITTEN QUESTION E-2311/99 by Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza (PSE) to the Council. Aid to the shipbuilding industry.
Date: 1999-12-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU industrial policy, International Monetary Fund, Japan, South Korea, Spain, State aid, World Bank, privatisation, restriction on competition, shipbuilding, tariff negotiations, terms for aid

3.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 280 E/23

As regards the possibility that the Dos Llometes project runs counter to the provisions of Commission
recommendation 75/65/EEC of 20 December 1974 to Member States concerning the protection of
architectural and natural heritage, we would point out that in secondary Community legislation recom-
mendations are non-binding legal acts for the Member States.

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(2000/C 280 E/021)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2290/99

by Carlos Carnero GonzÆlez (PSE) to the Council

(13 December 1999)

Subject: Future of shipbuilding in Europe

On 5 November 1999, the European Trade Union called a four hour strike in the shipbuilding industry, on
behalf of the sector(cid:146)s viability, under the slogan (cid:145)WORK FOR SHIPYARDS: A FUTURE FOR EUROPE(cid:146), and
on 9 November, the Council of Industry Ministers assessed the situation of European shipbuilding. A
two-hour strike had taken place on 27 October in Spain, a country with a long history of major
commitment
the yards belonging to the Spanish Shipbuilders(cid:146) Group,
(Grupo Astilleros Espaæoles) to draw attention to their viability, and to protest against the privatisation
of Astander by the Sociedad Espaæol de Participaciones Industriales. At the same time, it was announced
that the Commission was demanding that the Spanish Government return over 18 billion pesetas granted
to the shipbuilding sector as tax credits, claiming that they were state aids.

to shipbuilding,

in all

The need to guarantee a future for the shipbuilding industry should be an absolute priority of the
European Union, for economic, social and employment reasons. This needs to be achieved by mutual
agreement with the trade union leadership, and guarantee, above all, employment in a competitive public
sector.

Can the Council answer the following questions:

1. What measures can it put forward to guarantee the viability of shipbuilding, following the November

Council meeting?

2.

Is it aware of the privatisation of Astander, and does it seriously believe that dismantling the public
sector is the right way to guarantee production and employment?

3. What is its opinion of the dumping practised by countries like Korea and Japan in this area?

(2000/C 280 E/022)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2311/99

by Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza (PSE) to the Council

(13 December 1999)

Subject: Aid to the shipbuilding industry

The European shipbuilding sector is in serious difficulty. One of the EU(cid:146)s priorities should be to secure the
future of a competitive shipbuilding industry which will contribute to social and economic development
by maintaining a certain level of employment in a number of regions, many of which have a high level of
unemployment.

In its report to the Council on the situation of shipbuilding in the world, the Commission acknowledges
that South Korea(cid:146)s public aid scheme for shipbuilding is destabilising the world market in that sector. With
a view to planning measures which will remedy this state of affairs, has the Commission quantified the
amount of such aid?

Council Regulation (EC) No 1540/98 (1) of 29 June 1998 lays down new rules on state aid to the
shipbuilding sector up to December 2000. Is the Commission planning to extend the provision of such aid
to European production beyond that date as a precautionary measure whilst it pursues its investigation
into shipbuilding aid in South Korea?

C 280 E/24

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.10.2000

The Council of Industry Ministers is to meet on Tuesday, 9 November. Is the Council intending to include
this item on the agenda for the meeting? If so, what measures is it intending to adopt?

(1) OJ L 202, 18.7.1998, p. 1.

(2000/C 280 E/023)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2351/99

by Rosa MiguØlez Ramos (PSE) to the Council

(13 December 1999)

Subject: Future of the European shipbuilding industry

On several occasions since the crisis of 1973, European shipyards have undergone restructuring leading to
job losses and slumps in regions whose prosperity depended on shipbuilding and its role as a driving force
for other economic sectors. The Commission has itself acknowledged the continued decline in prices.
Between January 1997 and March 1999 prices of newly built vessels fell by between 15 and 31,5 per cent.
The explanation for this lies primarily in the fact that certain Asian countries, South Korea notably, sell
their products at a loss, with prices sometimes 30 per cent below European prices. Sizeable state subsidies
enable them to pursue such commercial dumping practices.

Over the above the tentative measures announced by the Council of Industry Ministers on 9 November
last, what short-term emergency measures, other than the well-known ones of appealing to the WTO, the
IMF and the World Bank, is the Council prepared to order in support of European shipyards so as to
guarantee their survival?

Does the Council regard safeguarding the future of the European shipbuilding sector as a priority, given
the various social and economic arguments?

What action does the Council intend to take in order to protect existing shipbuilding jobs in the European
Union and to guarantee the future of the sector, on which thousands of working people depend?

What instructions will the Council be giving to the Commission for the purpose of the first round of talks
in Seattle at the end of this year, with a view to shielding the European shipbuilding industry from the
unfair practices in which third countries indulge?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2290/99, E-2311/99 and E-2351/99

(13 March 2000)

In response to the questions and legitimate concerns expressed by the Honourable Members, the

1.
Council would first point out that:

(cid:129) in general the system of aid to shipbuilding is governed by the provisions of Council Regulation (EC)

No 1540/98 of 29 June 1998 (1);

(cid:129) more specifically, the Commission, pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1013/97 of 2 June 1997 (2),

approved aid to certain shipyards under restructuring in Germany and Spain.

At its meeting on 9 November 1999, the Council, in its (cid:145)Industry(cid:146) meeting, was presented with two

2.
separate reports from the Commission, relating to:

(cid:129) the situation in world shipbuilding (report drawn up in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EC)

No 1540/98),

(cid:129) the monitoring of the restructuring programmes for shipyards in Germany and Spain (fourth report

drawn up in accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1013/97).