Brussels, 22/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Union and South Korea will make a last ditch attempt to find a way of solving the bitter dispute pitting its shipyard industries against each other. Negotiations will begin in Seoul on 26 August. Described by South Korean negotiators as the chance meeting, this new face-to-face marks the beginning of difficult negotiations that intensified last year only to end up in an impasse nearly a year ago. The Europeans will use this respite to put a rather laborious mechanism into place that is aimed to protect their industry and inform Geneva of their grievances concerning South Korean competition, which in the meantime is expanding on the world market.
Sources from the Korean Department of Trade in Seoul indicated that, "It's the Union that proposed this meeting" and, "Given the circumstances, it will probably be the last meeting on the matter". The EU side indicated, however, that negotiations could in principle begin in September. Sources in Brussels indicated on Wednesday that, "We are going to Seoul to discus in order to find an agreement before the deadline set by the Council is reached" in order to take the matter to Geneva. The Union will seek binding arbitration from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) if the long-sought compromise is not reached by 30 September. The explanation could prove important, given that in Seoul, the authorities were said to be hoping for a certain amount of "flexibility" from European negotiators, while the industry is clearly confident in its world performance, having made strong progress in the market following a rather slow start at the beginning of the year.