Brussels, 25/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - Commission President Romano Prodi has called for a proposal by Commissioner Frits Bolkestein to open the car spare parts market to competition to be postponed until the autumn, explained Commission sources on Friday. The proposal concerning the intellectual property of designs would have enabled independent producers to sell spare chassis parts, a market estimated to be worth EUR 10 billion a year. French and German car manufacturers fiercely oppose such measures, which would end their monopoly (maintained for safety reasons) and have won a respite to 'prove' the potential dangers inherent in the proposals. A representative of the spare parts manufacturer group ECAR regretted the successful lobbying, rejecting the safety arguments on the grounds that sub-contractors already manufacture 80% of spare parts.