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9. BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
 
9.1. Analysis from the report of the LeaderSHIP Advisory Group
 
 A viable industry structure has to be at the core of any effort to improve the competitiveness of the EU shipbuilding and ship repair industry. In the area of newbuilding, competitors in the Far East are much more concentrated, with only a handful of large companies dominating the scene in Korea and Japan. In Europe, shipyards have also been reorganised into larger groups, comprising of a number of production facilities, but there are more than 30 major yards remaining as independent companies and there are numerous smaller yards engaging in the production of fishing vessels and the like. In the repair sector the fragmentation is even more pronounced. Also with regard to naval shipbuilding more concentration seems desirable in order to achieve synergies and limit problems with regard to R&D spending, market standing or access to finance.
 
 Considerations on the future structure of the European shipbuilding industry therefore need to cover all areas of activities, from the construction of all types of merchant and naval vessels, to repair and conversion projects, to the manufacturing of key components and systems, as all these activities are closely linked. Security considerations establish clear needs for certain shipbuilding capabilities, with regard to both commercial shipping and defence related tasks. Maintenance and repair capabilities are certainly to be regarded as indispensable due to safety requirements and the topographic nature of Europe.
 
 The cornerstones for a healthy and sustainable development of the industry world-wide are reasonable investments meeting the actual market demands. Economically less efficient facilities should exit from the market and investments should concentrate on segments where sufficient returns can be achieved.
 
 Great market volatility and the cyclical nature of the industry force shipyards to meet contradicting objectives: In order to optimise productivity, yards have to specialise; in order to be able to weather market volatility and business cycles, yards should diversify. The comparatively smaller size of European yards can be a competitive advantage when specialising in certain products. At the same time, market volatility constitutes a serious threat to highly specialised yards: Declining demand in specific market segments may force a specialised yard to engage in alternative products for which it is less well suited, and to team up with other yards.
 
 On company level, structural changes are on-going. They relate particularly to the relationship between yard and suppliers, but consolidation through mergers and acquisitions is also on the horizon. In the future, the relationship between yards and suppliers will evolve towards project partnerships, moving away from the traditional customer-supplier relation. Recent developments in the market indicate that this evolution may dramatically accelerate if efforts to merge a number of naval yards, eventually under the lead of a key marine equipment producer, are successful. As some of the yards involved are also engaged in commercial shipbuilding, a powerful entity, comprising all major shipbuilding activities, could emerge.
 
 Great diversity of yards and products exists in Europe, particularly when the situation in the future EU member states is taken into account as well. The total employment in merchant shipbuilding in the accession countries is about 20% higher than in the combined EU 15, while production output is only slightly above a quarter of the EU 15 reference figure. With still much lower labour costs, shipyards in accession countries focus on a different product portfolio. The different sets of competitive advantages already foster extensive co-operation between yards in current and future EU member states. However, this cannot conceal the fact that the EU enlargement process will increase the necessity for an overall industrial consolidation in Europe. Past experience of fundamental restructuring processes, such as in East Germany, indicates that policies are not yet optimised in this respect. Industrial restructuring needs to put stronger emphasis on commercial investors who provide additional know how and better market access. Where yard closures have become unavoidable, these should be undertaken and supported with the view to create new investments.
 
 The future policy for the sector should be reviewed without bias and with a clear understanding of consequences. Two extreme paths, both undesirable, illustrate the possible pitfalls. The absence of specific measures and policies for shipbuilding could result in the disappearance of merchant shipbuilding in Europe within less than a decade and a serious impediment to the construction of a European defence identity. On the other hand, protectionism, as experience shows elsewhere, for example in the USA, will inevitably result in an irreversible loss of competitiveness in commercial shipbuilding and extremely high procurement costs for naval ships.
 
9.2. Recommendations by the LeaderSHIP 2015 Advisory Group
 
- Non-action is not an option, neither is protectionism: The EU of the 25 must further develop its policy approach to the sector, in line with its principles on industrial policies.
 
- A consolidation process among European producers should be facilitated, providing incentives to remove less efficient production capacity and thereby freeing resources for new investments.
 
- The current closure aid rules in the EU should be scrutinised with the view to facilitate a more pro-active approach, based on the idea of "aid to consolidation".
 
9.3. Commission position
 
 The Commission believes that further consolidation, respecting competition rules, can generate benefits at all levels of activity, commercial and naval shipbuilding, and ship repair. However, this is primarily the responsibility of industry and in matters of defence Member States have a key role also. The Commission is ready to offer its knowledge and experience to facilitate the process.
 
10. CONCLUSIONS
 
 The Commission acknowledges the substantial work undertaken in the framework of the LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative and endorses the approach to improve sectoral competitiveness through an intensive dialogue between stakeholders. It invites the other European institutions to closely examine the issues raised and, in line with their commitment to support the manufacturing industries in Europe, to co-operate with the Commission in developing specific sectoral responses that are suited to boost industrial competitiveness and to take action on aspects that fall within their competences. More specifically, the Commission wishes to stress the following aspects:
 
- The important strategic dimension of shipbuilding and shiprepair for Europe should be recognised by Member States, with regard to defence needs, the trade in raw materials and manufactured goods for import and export, employment opportunities and the retaining of know-how. The important role of the marine equipment industry in the production of merchant and naval vessels should receive particular attention.
 
- WTO rules, in particular those relating to subsidies and countervailing measures, need to be used to help establish a level playing field.
 
- Enforceable disciplines need to be brought about as soon as possible and by 2005 at the latest, through a new international shipbuilding agreement, as well as the clear interpretation of existing OECD rules on export credits. Any such agreement should also include the People's Republic of China. Member States are called upon to continue their steadfast support for the goals pursued by the Community in the current OECD negotiations.
 
- Regarding investment in innovation, state aid rules will be further adapted to the specific conditions of the European shipbuilding industry. Member States are called upon to adjust their support measures to the new rules.
 
- The need to explore whether a European entity such as the European Investment Bank can take a leading role in pre- and post-delivery financing for shipbuilding projects. Priority should be given to the issue of pre-delivery financing as this has shown to be the most problematic element. The Commission is open to exploring in co-operation with stakeholders whether and how the re-insurance of currency risk can be achieved on a European level.
 
- Together with Community institutions and Member States, the European shipbuilding industry should play an important role in the improvement of maritime safety and environmental protection through providing technical expertise to the relevant bodies, through the development of high quality products that exceed the current minimum standards and through the establishment of good industry practice, in particular concerning ship repair works. The latter could take the form of a quality assessment scheme for shipyards on a world-wide level.
 
- Additional market opportunities for EU shipyards could result from Short Sea Shipping and intermodal integration which require new or specially adapted vessels and transport concepts. EU policy makers in the Council and the Parliament are called upon to support the Commission in its efforts to facilitate this modal shift.
 
- The need for Member States and their navies to agree to a minimum set of common operational requirements and a harmonisation of procurement cycles, in line with the Commission's Communication on "European Defence - Industrial and Market Issues" of March 2003. These minimum requirements should be based on the Petersberg tasks and the "Helsinki Headline Goals". Co-operation between yards should be organised around a limited number of major projects, using pooled R&D resources and a single European defence equipment market, while respecting EC competition rules.
 
- Export rules (and their application and interpretation) for naval vessels and their components need to be harmonised between Member States.
 
- Establishing a common market for defence equipment, including the setting up of a joint procurement agency, would foster industrial consolidation in the longer term and consistent with its approach set out in its Communication, the Commission will give its full support to relevant actions towards the achievement of this goal.
 
- The extent of the problems regarding intellectual property right infringements in the shipbuilding sector will be further explored. Based on the outcome, new approaches to the protection of intellectual property rights have to be considered. First ideas relate to the creation of a comprehensive knowledge database, whose feasibility should be studied, and a re-examination of applicable patent law which appears outdated and inappropriate.
 
- With regard to skills and training four issues require immediate attention: training of managers with the aim to strengthen the ability to run firms based on project-related roles; promoting exchanges of specialists with the objective to facilitate the transfer of knowledge, the diffusion of good practices and the recognition of qualifications throughout the EU; supporting the development of skills, in particular concerning the adaptability of workers and firms to change, and the implementation of lifelong learning strategies; and, a communication policy to attract skilled blue and white collar staff. It is proposed to develop targeted activities in all these areas, ideally through the social dialogue that has been established for the sector. Actions should take place on regional and EU-wide level.
 
- The need to maintain a supportive policy approach to the sector, in line with its goals to ensure industrial competitiveness. A consolidation process among European producers, respecting EC competition rules, would improve industrial competitiveness by providing incentives to remove less efficient production capacity and thereby freeing resources for new investments. Greater co-operation between naval defence and shipbuilding resources in Europe, built on a number of leading companies in the areas of commercial and naval shipbuilding and marine equipment, can also contribute to the improvement of competitiveness.







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