WRITTEN QUESTION E-2290/99 by Carlos Carnero González (PSE) to the Council. Future of shipbuilding in Europe.
3. 10. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 280 E/23 As regards the possibility that the Dos Llometes project runs counter to the provisions of Commission recommendation 75/65/EEC of 20 December 1974 to Member States concerning the protection of architectural and natural heritage, we would point out that in secondary Community legislation recom- mendations are non-binding legal acts for the Member States. (1) OJ L 73, 14. 3. 1997. (2000/C 280 E/021) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2290/99 by Carlos Carnero GonzÆlez (PSE) to the Council (13 December 1999) Subject: Future of shipbuilding in Europe On 5 November 1999, the European Trade Union called a four hour strike in the shipbuilding industry, on behalf of the sectorís viability, under the slogan WORK FOR SHIPYARDS: A FUTURE FOR EUROPEí, and on 9 November, the Council of Industry Ministers assessed the situation of European shipbuilding. A two-hour strike had taken place on 27 October in Spain, a country with a long history of major commitment the yards belonging to the Spanish Shipbuildersí Group, (Grupo Astilleros Espaæoles) to draw attention to their viability, and to protest against the privatisation of Astander by the Sociedad Espaæol de Participaciones Industriales. At the same time, it was announced that the Commission was demanding that the Spanish Government return over 18 billion pesetas granted to the shipbuilding sector as tax credits, claiming that they were state aids. to shipbuilding, in all The need to guarantee a future for the shipbuilding industry should be an absolute priority of the European Union, for economic, social and employment reasons. This needs to be achieved by mutual agreement with the trade union leadership, and guarantee, above all, employment in a competitive public sector. Can the Council answer the following questions: 1. What measures can it put forward to guarantee the viability of shipbuilding, following the November Council meeting? 2. Is it aware of the privatisation of Astander, and does it seriously believe that dismantling the public sector is the right way to guarantee production and employment? 3. What is its opinion of the dumping practised by countries like Korea and Japan in this area? (2000/C 280 E/022) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2311/99 by Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza (PSE) to the Council (13 December 1999) Subject: Aid to the shipbuilding industry The European shipbuilding sector is in serious difficulty. One of the EUís priorities should be to secure the future of a competitive shipbuilding industry which will contribute to social and economic development by maintaining a certain level of employment in a number of regions, many of which have a high level of unemployment. In its report to the Council on the situation of shipbuilding in the world, the Commission acknowledges that South Koreaís public aid scheme for shipbuilding is destabilising the world market in that sector. With a view to planning measures which will remedy this state of affairs, has the Commission quantified the amount of such aid? Council Regulation (EC) No 1540/98 (1) of 29 June 1998 lays down new rules on state aid to the shipbuilding sector up to December 2000. Is the Commission planning to extend the provision of such aid to European production beyond that date as a precautionary measure whilst it pursues its investigation into shipbuilding aid in South Korea?