Luxembourg, 06/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - As we were going to press and flying in the face of all expectations (see EUROPE of 3/4 June, p.12), the EU Council of industry ministers that was meeting in Luxembourg chaired by the Spanish science and technology minister Ana Maria Birules y Bertrain seemed to be moving towards a breakthrough in the sensitive issue of unfair competitive practices by South Korean shipbuilders since France appears to have managed to get the majority to agree to include methane tankers in the list of ships eligible for aid. Diplomatic sources suggested in the afternoon that the European Commission was inclined to agree with this, despite the fact that to date it has opposed increasing the scope of the temporary defence measure. In other words, the European Commission had not ruled out revising its proposal, especially since the French and German economics ministers wrote to the Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti, earlier this week (the Commissioner most stubbornly opposed to including new categories of ships) asking him to reconsider his position. The Council also adopted a series of conclusions on competition, enterprise policy and sustainable development and was addressed by the Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, on the latest developments in the transatlantic steel dispute.The proposal aimed at counteracting unfair trade practices by South Korea in the shipyards sector was not the focus of intense discussion during the Industry Council in December, without the Ministers being able to adopt it. France, whose votes were necessary for adopting the rule, had in fact made their agreement to the text dependent on expanding the field of application of the mechanism to include methane carriers, which a majority of Member States had not accepted. Meanwhile the European Commission published its fifth report on the shipbuilding situation in the world (see EUROPE 1 May page 10) which suspects Korea has been dumping in the methane carrier sector, although the report on obstacles to trade, published by the Commission a week later (see EUROPE 8 May page 12) is far more circumspect on this point. The information in the fifth report are very possibly the cause for the objection of certain Member States to include methane carriers from the list of boats eligible for State Aid during the regulation of the Euro-Korean WTO dispute. The ball now appear to be in the court of the Commission, which if it takes into account of the development recorded last Thursday, is expected to begin work on the issue again in the next few days. Although the meeting isn't over yet, sources close to the Council indicate that it seems open to this possibility.
Competition and enterprise policy. After having heard Commissioner for Competition, Mario Monti, present the 31st Annual Report (2001) on Competition Policy, and the European Commissioner for the Information Society, Erkki Liikanen, explain the recent Commission communication on the too slow growth in productivity in the EU (see EUROPE 22 May page 11 and 24 May page 12), the Council held a debate on the latter subject. It adopted conclusions on this issue, stressing that it was essential for the EU to strengthen the principal factors that influence productivity - innovation, research and development - particularly in the private sector, with the goal of spending approximately 3% of GDP in this field in 2010 - new technologies, investment and the diffusion of information technology and communications (ICT). Ministers also adopted conclusions appealing for continued efforts by the Commission and Member States to support e-commerce development. They adopted a third series of conclusions for improving the environment in which companies - particularly SMEs - develop and prosper. They called on Member States to facilitate access for companies to information, support services and venture capital and for them to improve the link between the education system and the labour market.
Sustainable development. Mr Liikanen's explanation on the Commission's new chemical products strategy, which aims at converting the current double authorisation system (which distinguishes between existing and new substances in test requirements) in a single system, was followed by the Council adopting conclusions on the contribution of enterprise policy to sustainable development. He called on Member States and the Commission to continue working in their areas of competence in the following fields: sustainable use of natural resources and waste management; elaboration of new legislation on chemical products based on a higher level of environmental protection and health; promotion of innovation and European standardisation; setting up indicators that will monitor sustainable integration development and enterprise policy; promotion of voluntary instruments based on the market.