付録13 CESAプレス発表(2000年11月15日)
COMMITTEE OF E.U. SHIPBUILDERS ASSOCIATIONS
PRESS RELEASE
NO COMMISSION PROPOSAL TO COUNTER KOREAN MARKET DISTORTIONS
CESA is disappointed by the inconsistent report of the Commission. On the one hand the report reconfirms the distortive and harmful practises of the Korean shipyards and informs that the WT0 approach initiated by CESA gives a long timeframe before it could possibly solve the problem. On the other hand however, all the Commission is offering is to examine as soon as possible the possibilities to propose measures to address the problem. The plain statement that operating aid has not provided a solution to the Korean problem cannot be an excuse not to address the short-term problem at all. European shipyards need effective action immediately - but not further promises, that only lead to more delays.
The European Commission adopted today the third in a series of reports to the Council of Ministers on the state of the world shipbuilding market. The report describes basically in three parts the situation of the shipbuilding market (in charge: DG ENTR), the development of the trade negotiations with the Republic of Korea (in charge: DG TRADE) and support measures for EU shipyards (in charge: DG COMP).
The first part states that despite the favourable development of the shipping market, ship prices have not recovered from the massive drop since 1997. The on-going depression in prices is caused by Korean yards, which offers prices below costs. The average loss for all investigated orders is estimated at approx. 20%. The market share of Korea (first 8 month 2000) in terms of cgt (compensated gross tons) is above 40% now, in the important segment of containerships it is 60%; for very large containerships ("Post-Panamax"), which are staffing to dominate the liner shipping, Korea took 82% of all orders this year. Nearly all market segments are targeted by Korean yards.
Concerning the efforts to solve the problem by trade policy the report notes that the Commission had engaged Korea in negotiations under the consultation provisions provided by the so-called "Agreed Minutes" from earlier this year. However, these bilateral talks have ended without results. Korea did not fulfil its commitments and was unable to agree on implementing some concrete measures. The report also informs about the proceedings of the TBR-complaint submitted by CESA. A TBR-complaint takes up to 45 days to examine, 5 to 7 months for investigation (dispute settlement) and 18 to 24 months for a WTO ruling. However, anticipating a WTO ruling allowing countermeasures, a discussion would have to follow to which products punitive tariffs should be applied, because ships are not subject to any tariffs.
CESA can fully follow those two parts. The description of the market conditions reflects the daily experience of the EU shipyards and regarding trade policy, CESA was aware of the timeframe connected when it submitted the TBR-complaint.
Orense, 11-1
0. 1, E-28020 MADRID (SPAIN), Tel. +34 91 4170437, Fax +34 91 5550185, E-mail: uninave@retemail.es
Brussels office: Rue Marie de Bourgogne 52-54, 3
rd floor, B-1000 Brussels, Tel. +32 2 230 27 91/32 87, Fax +32 2 230 43 32,
E-mail: cesa@skynet.be,
http://www.cesa-shipbuilders.orgCESA however has great difficulties accepting the last part of the report, which explains the support measures for EU shipyards. CESA finds incomplete information and misleading conclusions. The following comments highlight some of our critics.
1. To draw the conclusion that 9% operating aid has served to cushion EU yards from the full rigours of the market is absurd. The market monitoring has shown that Korean shipyards accepted average loss of approx. 20% as mentioned above. Furthermore, this expression ignores that a number of especially small and medium sized EU shipyards went bankrupt and vanished in the 90's due to a lack of options to compensate the loss of market share despite general competitiveness in terms of productivity.
2. The report fails to give any explanation why the other forms of aid, which are available under the current regulation, could be more suitable. The fact that other forms of aid have scarcely been used, indicates that they cannot substitute the effectiveness of operating aid.
3. CESA has pointed out earlier that the figure of 22% aid related to the sectors added value gives a misleading picture. The correct figure to indicate the magnitude compared to the average among manufacturing industries is between 5,5% and 6,3%.
4. CESA has handed over a study to the Commission prepared by a neutral consultant on the nature of the operating aid to shipbuilding. Among others the study calculated the degree of effective support taking into consideration the effects of trade instruments. The consultant found that the effective support to European shipbuilders was negative.
5. The figure of aid per employed person p.a. is wrong (use of incompatible data) and misleading. Using compatible employment figures and put in relation to operating aid the result is between 1.600C and 1.900C. The average in manufacturing industries is 1.200C. However, the average manufacturing industry does certainly not have comparable severe market conditions.
Anyhow, these details could be regarded as minor deficiencies. More important is the apparent lack of consequential proposals for actions to be perused. The first six bullet-points do not contain any concrete action to solve the short-term problems faced by the European industry. The substance behind the last bullet-point remains to be seen. CESA points out that indispensable preconditions for appropriate proposals are effectiveness and full transparency.
RL, 15-11-2000
For more information please contact:
Dr. Reinhard Luken
CESA Brussels Office
Tel.: +32 2 230 32 87
Fax: +32 2 230 43 32
E-mail: cesa@skynet.be
Orense, 11-1
0. 1, E-28020 MADRID (SPAIN), Tel. +34 91 4170437, Fax +34 91 5550185, E-mail: uninave@retemail.es
Brussels office: Rue Marie de Bourgogne 52-54, 3
rd floor, B-1000 Brussels, Tel. +32 2 230 27 91/32 87, Fax +32 2 230 43 32,
E-mail: cesa@skynet.be,
http://www.cesa-shipbuilders.org
