Brussels, 25/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The new deferral, on Wednesday, of the Commission's review of the "revised" strategy for combating unfair practices by South Korean shipyards (see EUROPE of 8 March, p;10) is said to be due to serious divergence within the Commission and more especially between Trade Commissioner Lamy and Competition Commissioner Monti. After the procedure carried out under the regulation on trade barriers, for which the Commission does not intend to communicate conclusions except to Member States and in a confidential manner, it would appear that tankers are affected by the dumping practised by South Korea, which would justify their inclusion in the scope of the new remoulding of the Commission's proposal made last summer (see EUROPE of 26 July). It would also have the advantage of satisfying Paris and of bringing the dossier out of deadlock. We recall that, during the Industry Council last December (see EUROPE of 6 December, p.7), France had prevented the adoption of the temporary defence mechanism for shipbuilding because of the refusal by several Member States to include tankers on the list of vessels eligible for State aid. From there to accusing Pascal Lamy of favouring the interests of his country, there is only a small step that some did not hesitate to take. On Thursday, the Commissioner told journalists in substance that he was not in the habit of commenting on issues before the College has given its opinion, adding that this is the first time he has been accused of favouring national interests and that the fact that France is among the three countries concerned by tankers is pure chance. It remains that, within the Commission, Mario Monti, who has long battled for State aid in favour of moribund sectors to be reduced, is reportedly opposed to including tankers on the list of vessels likely to benefit from aid. He is apparently backed by his colleagues Frits Bolkestein, David Byrne, Neil Kinnock, Poul Nielson and Chris Patten.