Fact Sheets on the European Union – 2 - EU Bookshop - Europa

4 Common policies 8
Industrial policy
already proposed reintroducing subsidies temporarily for
European shipyards, but disagreement among the 15 States
had blocked the plan. This time, Competition Commissioner
Mario Monti said that the compromise plan would reduce
the amount of subsidies from the originally proposed 14 %
and that it would also limit their duration and scope. The
Commission will now hold a series of further negotiations
with the Korean authorities in an attempt to restore normal
trading practices. The proposal for the defensive mechanism
was limited to those market segments in which the
Commission and the Council found that the EU industry had
been considerably injured by unfair South Korean trade
practices, namely container ships and tankers carrying
products in general and chemicals in particular.
Seeing that the negotiations broke down between the EU and
South Korean authorities in September 2002, the Commission
stated in its communication on the world shipbuilding
industry (sixth report) of November 2002 that it had again
initiated WTO action against South Korea through the dispute
settlement procedure.
On 11 June 2003, the Community called on the Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB) to establish a panel on the unfair
practices of South Korea’s shipbuilding sector. As Regulation
(EC) No 1177/2002 was due to expire on 31 March 2004 and as
the Republic of Korea had not yet implemented the measures
decided upon in the ‘agreed minutes’ and the discussions in
the WTO had little chance of finishing before that date, it was
decided that the temporary defensive mechanism would be
extended to 31 March 2005.
Given the prospect of enlargement, the Commission proposed
a new programme, LeaderSHIP 2015, which defines the future
of the European shipbuilding and ship repair industry. This
programme was drawn up within the framework of the
industrial policy in an enlarged Europe. LeaderSHIP 2015,
which seeks to promote safe and environment-friendly
shipbuilding together with a European approach to the needs
of the shipbuilding industry, is the equivalent of ‘G10
medicines’ for the pharmaceuticals industry and ‘STAR 21’ for
the aerospace industry.
Role of the European Parliament
Parliament has for a long time defended the European
shipbuilding sector, particularly in light of the competition
from South Korea. In its resolution of 30 May 2002, in which it
states that, as early as November 2001, it approved the
Commission proposal for a Council regulation concerning a
temporary defensive mechanism for shipbuilding, Parliament
‘recalls that it asked the Commission to amend its proposal to
include other market segments, namely gas tankers (LNG and
LPG carriers), ferries and ro-ro vessels, as these ship types are
also referred to in the complaint lodged with the WTO’.
Parliament also reiterated its demand that the proposed
temporary defensive mechanism should accompany the
Community’s actions against South Korea in the WTO and that
it should apply only for the duration of the WTO proceedings.
g
Miklos Györffi
September 2006
4.8.4. The automobile industry
The automobile industry is not currently regulated by specific provisions of the Treaty establishing the European
Community (EC). This area is indirectly regulated by the provisions relating to the environment, competition, State aid or
the internal market. However, a number of EU directives have been adopted to govern the functioning of motor vehicles.
Legal basis
Although the Treaty of Rome contained no specific provisions
on a common policy for the automobile industry, the Treaty’s
provisions on competition, State aid (Articles 81 to 89) and the
internal market empower the Commission to intervene in the
automobile market. It may be authorised to negotiate with third
countries (external policy). Article 157 of the Treaty provides the
legal basis generally used for the EU industrial policy.
Objectives
The EU is focused on strengthening the competitiveness of
the European automotive industry by implementing an
effective internal market and global regulatory framework as
well as promoting the interests of industry in other areas such
as transport, the environment, competition, trade and
enlargement.
Achievements
At the beginning of 2005 the Commission launched the highlevel
group CARS 21 (‘Competitive Automotive Regulatory
System for the 21st Century’), which brought together all the
representatives of the car sector: from manufacturers to oil
companies and consumer associations. The task of this group
was to reflect upon the future of Europe’s automobile sector,
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