Brussels, 11/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - "We do not expect a miracle to come out of the transatlantic meeting" held on Thursday in Washington, said the European Commission's spokesman (see yesterday, p.8). The consultations, which began at 17h00 (Brussels time), were mainly to allow American and Community experts to clarify their positions and answer questions put to them regarding the loans announced for the construction of the super jumbo jet Airbus and regarding the indirect subsidies to Boeing.
"We are not able, at this point in time, to give the Americans exact details on the reimbursable funding of Airbus because there is not yet a firm commitment on the part of the partners within the consortium (F, UK, E and D) on their funding", said the spokesman. This information should be available by Easter, after consultation aimed above all at specifying the contribution of each to the advance promised to Airbus during the launching of the industrial project of the A380. Europeans, however, believe they have sufficiently clear indications to show the subsidies granted since 1998 to the Seattle aircraft manufacturer, through contracts with the Pentagon and NASA, largely exceed the ceiling set for this kind of aid in the bilateral agreement of 1992. "Studies show American non-refundable grants by way of 5 and 10%, although they were not to exceed 3% of the Boeing turnover", it is stated in Brussels. In the case of Airbus, stress the same sources, this is reimbursable funding (that can, in all legality, amount to 33% of the total cost of the project) and not illegal subsidies in the sense of the multilateral 1994 agreement.
In Washington, reference was more willingly made to the WTO agreement that bans subsidies for aircraft manufacture. "There is no doubt that provisions are applied in the case of the A380, with or without the bilateral agreement of 1992, and we want to ensure that the public funding (announced) is done on the base of commercial criteria and in conformity" with the multilateral rules on aid to the aeronautics sector, said an American official the day before the meeting. She hoped the partners would seize this "good opportunity for defusing a potential dispute".