Brussels, 16/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - The WTO's preliminary ruling on the EU complaint over US subsidies to national plane maker Boeing (DS 353), revealed to the parties in Geneva on Wednesday 16 September, sent the transatlantic partners off to find an amicable solution. “The analysis conducted appeared very thorough and its conclusions support the EU's view in the disputes. A more detailed assessment is needed but I believe even more strongly than before that the question of subsidies to aircraft manufacturers can be settled only by way of negotiations,” EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said in a press release. Airbus and the French government also claimed victory.
The WTO ruled on some 20 aid programmes to Boeing. In addition to tax and social exemptions the company enjoyed, the key issue in the judgment related to the arrangements for the aid from NASA and the Pentagon in the form of R&D programmes. The European Commission says this aid, estimated to be worth almost $24 billion, is state subsidy in the guise of space and armament contracts. Experts await the final verdict, not to be published until mid-2011, leaving ample time for various interpretations.
In the meantime, the US government and Boeing are not conceding victory to the EU in this chapter of tit-for-tat complaints (the WTO has already ruled on a US complaint over EU support to Airbus, DS 316, see EUROPE 10172). The EU is pressing for an amicable solution. “Now that the two reports are available, it is time to stop the blame game,” Airbus says, calling for talks to “draw up new fair rules” for global aeronautics. The issue could re-surface at the next EU-US summit this autumn. (E.H./transl.rt)