Brussels, 09/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner for Competition, Mario Monti, went to Berlin this week and during his visit he met several German politicians, including the Ministers of Finance, Mr. Eichel, and the Economy, Mr. Muller. These meetings allowed for exchanges of views on sensitive subjects regarding European competition, notably:
i) modernisation of the anti-trust rules (Article 81 and 82 of the Treaty). Germany backs most of the draft reform prepared by Mr. Monti and intends helping the Commission clarify certain precise aspects. On Thursday 9 November, the Commissioner took part in a conference on the "Reform of European Competition Law", in Freiburg.
ii) state aid for the laender of former East Germany. Responding to criticisms according to which the Commission is too restrictive regarding subsidies to that part of Germany in difficulty, Mr. Monti stressed that the Commission had, since March 1996, only taken 13 negative decisions out of a total of 155 concerning aid provided to companies active in the new Laender;
iii) guarantees to public banks, particularly sensitive subject given the complaint lodged by the EU Banking Federation concerning aid of which public banks in Germany benefit. The Commissioner recalled on that occasion that smaller financial institutions could probably be considered as not receiving aid under the EC Treaty. Criteria must still be defined on the subject. For the rest, the Commission's position is well-known;
iv) services of a general interest. The exchange of views on this subject represented a "positive exercise in clarification", said Mr. Monti, referring to the Commission's recent communication on services of a general interest;
v) shipbuilding. ""It is my firm opinion that an extension of the operating aid regimes - which expire at the end of the year - would not be an answer to the Korean problem, which has to be addressed by appropriate trade measures. In contrast, a prorogation would further distort the market situation within Europe", is what he said in substance. EUROPE recalls that the Commission is now acting at a trade level on this issue.