Aid to shipyards under restructuring

Parliament adopted without report, by 219 votes to 171 with 16 abstentions, the proposal for a Regulation on aid to certain shipyards under restructuring, with a few amendments by the Socialist Group. As the OECD Shipbuilding Agreement has not yet come into force, Parliament considers that this situation should not continue beyond a reasonable limit and sets 28 May as the date after which the Agreement should be considered void if it has still not been ratified. It considers that the draft OECD Agreement on aid to shipbuilding is cancelled by granting the planned aid and that approval of this aid would severely distort the European market. It asks that there should be no new injection of capital beyond the restructuring aid envisaged under the Regulation. It hopes that State aid will not be granted as aid to employment but will be exclusively concerned with restructuring costs. It hopes that before 31 December 1999 the Commission will propose to the Council a new industrial policy providing sufficient guarantees to European shipbuilding. �