Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-13-Speech-2-382"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071113.35.2-382"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am speaking also on behalf of Mrs Tokia Saïfi, who is a member of the Committee on International Trade.
Boeing’s complaint against Airbus in the WTO is making it look like a bad loser. This is an industrial group that for decades dominated the market; now, since the start of this decade, since 2003 and 2004, Airbus has overtaken Boeing. Who would have imagined that 20 years ago? Then at precisely the same time Boeing’s complaint to the WTO appears. The complaint is nonsensical since the American manufacturer has always benefited from significant military research and development programmes from the Pentagon or NASA. Many of the technologies were first used in military aircraft and Boeing benefits from free transfer of technology from the military to the civil sector, just as it also benefits from various tax breaks from the US Government.
What does Airbus, the European manufacturer, receive? Instead of subsidies, it gets repayable loans, which, as their name suggests, have to be repaid. Not only are they repayable but, as you said, Commissioner, the sums repaid are far in excess of the original loan since they depend on the number of planes sold, and practically all of Airbus’s aircraft have been successful. That will surely be the case in the future, too, with orders for the A380 and A350 piling up recently. In addition, this system operates openly and publicly, with complete transparency. Airbus does not benefit from any hidden aid.
Commissioner, on my behalf and on behalf of my colleagues in the European Parliament’s aeronautical intergroup, I must tell you that we will be monitoring this issue carefully, very carefully in fact. We expect you – and you have given us assurances in this respect, Commissioner – to defence vigorously the European manufacturer’s economic interests. The role of the European Union, like that of the United States, is not to try to go one better in the WTO, but to bring the partners together in bilateral negotiations to resolve their differences."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples