WRITTEN QUESTION E-2508/99 by Jaime Valdivielso de Cué (PPE-DE) to the Council. Trade.
Date: 1999-12-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: South Korea, dumping, international competition, restriction on competition, shipbuilding

C 225 E/154

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.8.2000

(2000/C 225 E/168)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2508/99

by Jaime Valdivielso de CuØ (PPE-DE) to the Council

(22 December 1999)

Subject: Trade

On 9 November 1999, following the Council meeting of EU Industry Ministers, it became clear that the
difficulties currently facing European shipyards in general and Spanish ones in particular are largely due to
the (cid:145)dumping(cid:146) practised by South Korea.

Why has no action been taken against the country in question, whose dumping practices are partly
financed out of international funds?

Reply

(28 February 2000)

In its Conclusions of 9 November 1999 on the situation in world shipbuilding, the Industry Council
shared the Commission(cid:146)s view that the shipbuilding sector is facing a critical situation world-wide with
very low prices and a serious overcapacity caused by the Republic of Korea, which severely affects the
European shipbuilding industry.

The Council also expressed its serious concern on the results of the Commission(cid:146)s investigations which
indicate that contracts have been awarded in the Republic of Korea at prices below cost, thus causing
damage to the interests of EU yards.

Consequently, the Council called on the Commission to pursue its efforts to establish a level playing field
for the sector by immediately engaging the Republic of Korea in constructive consultations with a view to
halting the unfair competition.

On the basis of these conclusions, a joint meeting between the representatives of the EC Commission and
of EU industry on one side and the representatives of the Government of Korea and Korean Industry on
the other side took place in Paris on 14 December 1999 in the framework of the OECD.

The two sides had a constructive dialogue on EU(cid:146)s concerns over the world shipbuilding market situation
which covered supply and demand, over-capacity and low prices and the question of the financing of
Korean shipyards in difficulties like Halla and Daewoo.

(2000/C 225 E/169)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2511/99

by Mar(cid:237)a Sornosa Mart(cid:237)nez (PSE)
and Mar(cid:237)a Valenciano Mart(cid:237)nez-Orozco (PSE) to the Commission

(22 December 1999)

Subject: Infringement of the principle of sex equality in chess tournaments within the European Union

By law, all the EU Member States specifically ban mixed chess tournaments involving matches between
players of the opposite sex. However, playing chess (which is an intellectual pursuit) does not require any
particular muscular or physical capacity which could justify segregating players on the basis of their sex.
Last year the Commission, in reply to a petition submitted by the Spanish citizen JosØ Eduardo Da Riva
Alfonso (Petition No 253/98), took the view that there was no justification whatever for such discrimina-
tion. Although it was true that, in certain sports, men and women competed in different categories, chess
did not require any specific physical preparation or ability which was beyond the reach of women.

To quote from the Amsterdam Treaty and, in particular the following Articles thereof:

(cid:129) Article 2: (cid:145)The Community shall have as its task, by (cid:133) implementing common policies or activities (cid:133),

to promote (cid:133) equality between men and women(cid:146),