Brussels, 15/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Taking part in a joint press conference on Thursday with the president of Airbus, Louis Gallois, the commissioner for industry, Günter Verheugen, accused the American aircraft builder Boeing of being “highly subsidised by the American government” which, he added, “distorts the rules of the game in the aeronautical field”. “We would prefer an amicable resolution [to the dispute between the Union and the United States over aid to the aeronautical industry] but the Commission is convinced that it has an extremely solid dossier against Washington. I am optimistic in principle, but I cannot tell you when or how we will reach a solution”, he said. In his first written argument against the support granted to Boeing, which was tabled to the WTO on 22 March, the Union accuses the American aircraft builder of having benefited from $23.7 billion in illegal public aid. For its part, Washington accuses the Union of having granted $100 billion in illegal aid to Airbus over several years, and is calling for the immediate reimbursement of 4.5 billion in case it is victorious. No decision is likely to be taken before September in the complaint against Airbus and before early 2008 in the case against Boeing.
Without ever directly referring to the French government or head of state Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Verheugen also reiterated the Commission's opposition to all forms of state intervention in private companies. “It is up to the market, not governments, to create industrial champions”, he stressed. During the presidential campaign in France, Mr Sarkozy showed a great deal of interest in the Airbus dossier, committing to a restructuring plan over four years with the planned shedding of 10,000 jobs, and referring to the possibility of recapitalising the aircraft builder (the French state holds 15% of the shares in EADS, the parent company of the Airbus).
The main objective of this press conference was to announce Airbus's commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its aircraft by 50% between now and 2020. “The industry must do all in its power to prevent the contribution of air transport to world CO2 emissions from rising from 2% to 3%, as predicted”, announced Mr Gallois, stating that Airbus was to increase its R&D and technology budget by 25% as of 2008, in order to ensure that all new Airbus aircraft on the market produce half as much CO2 as today and consume 30% less energy by 2020. These commitments were welcomed by Mr Verheugen, who believes that there is “no contradiction between competitiveness and high ecological standards”. The president of Airbus also called on the partners of Airbus, its suppliers and also its competitors, such as Boeing, to “share a common vision on ways of becoming a green industry”. Mr Gallois also pledged that he would put forward proposals for cooperation with the American aircraft manufacturer “in the next few months”. (eh)