Luxembourg, 07/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Noting the considerable progress made on the unfair trade practices file in the shipbuilding sector, the EU industry ministers, who met in Council on Thursday in Luxembourg, addressed a clear warning to South Korea. If negotiations begun with Seoul do not reach a successful conclusion by end September, Europe will subsidise its shipyards and take the matter before the WTO, said, in essence, the Spanish Presidency of the Council and the three European Commissioners concerned, namely Messrs Monti, Lamy and Liikanen, responsible for competition, trade and enterprise respectively.
As we pointed out earlier (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.11), the hostility of some to the inclusion of tankers, as requested by France, had lost its cutting edge on the elements contained in the fifth report on shipbuilding, and, the Commission having noted this change, an agreement on the proposal of a defensive mechanism is now imminent. The agreement, however, was not formally concluded on Thursday. France had noted the need for complementary consultation in its capital. This attitude, which is a priori paradoxical, in so far as it was Paris that called for tankers to be included, should be placed in the current electoral context. Whatever, the agreement is within reach, said Pascal Lamy. Ana Birules, the acting president for the Council, said for her part that "we should be able to take a decision (…) before end June". The draft agreement, the result of discussions between the Council and the Commission, provides for: - the inclusion of tankers, to be confirmed by the Commission on the basis of a new report on the obstacles to trade, adopting the data relating to 2002; - the entry into force of the regulation (that is, the possibility of granting aid) and the simultaneous launch of a procedure before the WTO if the Commission concludes negotiations with South Korea have failed; - maximum aid intensity reduced to 6% instead of 14%, - expiry of the regulation on 31 March 2004 (instead of 31 December 2002); - a report presented by the Commission to the Council on the outcome of negotiations with the Koreans by 30 September 2002 at the latest. Speaking to the press after the Council, Pascal Lamy affirmed that progress made during this Council session would allow the Commission to "negotiate with a strong hand" with the Koreans.
Competition policy. The Council noted the state of progress in work on the proposal aimed at allowing more effective implementation and decentralised application of Community competition law. In this respect, Mario Monti stressed the progress made under Spanish Presidency, mainly regarding the functioning of the network of competition authorities. He also presented to ministers the latest update of the scoreboard on State aid (see EUROPE of 24 May, p.10), which reveals a general tendency to reduce State aid and to make better use of funds.
Life sciences and biotechnology. On the problem of exploiting the potential of biotechnologies, the Council adopted conclusions calling on the Commission to cooperate closely with the Council in order to establish an operational roadmap that takes on board practical measures with a view to a strategy and an action plan by focusing on measures of prime importance, clarifying the responsibilities of the different players and fixing a timetable for the implementation of measures, so that the Council may have an indepth debate on this issue during the second half of 2002.
Finally, the Council heard Mr Liikanen's presentation of the conclusions that the Commission plans to draw from the report by the G10 working group on the competitiveness of the pharmaceuticals industry. It also heard information from the Presidency concerning the results of the Euro-Mediterranean conference of industry ministers which took place on 9 and 10 April in Malaga.