Recriminations fly between Airbus and Boeing as trade negotiators leave Brussels meeting empty handed
European Commission and US trade negotiators left to decide their next moves after failing to agree to end subsidies for large civil aircraft at a meeting in Brussels on 16 September. The US side says the EC "has not accepted the US goal of moving quickly to eliminate subsidies". The EC says it will be difficult to agree to eliminate support for Airbus "just when its competitor, Boeing, has got massive support for the 7E7".
The 4h meeting was described as "constructive" by both sides, who agreed to go back and consult their "constituents". There will be more talks, but no date is set. US negotiator John Veroneau says he will report to US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick, while the EC side will return to member states for discussions to decide its position.
The sticking point is over direct versus indirect government support. While the USA wants Europe to halt direct launch aid for Airbus, the EC wants any revamped agreement to control indirect support and subcontracts to countries that subsidise their industries' involvement in large civil aircraft programmes.
"We have asked them to move quickly," says Veroneau, USTR general counsel. The EC says: "We are not going to make any commitment that means unilateral disarmament on our part if there is not a similar move on the other side."
Veroneau adds: "We agreed on two things. If we have a new agreement, it must have robust transparency provisions and good enforcement provisions. But we had diverging views on the level of support each company has received." The US side is pushing for an agreement based on the World Trade Organisation's more stringent definition of subsidies - which would affect direct and indirect government support. "We will have to renegotiate an agreement or look to other options, including the WTO," says Veroneau.
In a statement Boeing says: "Unfortunately, the EU appears to continue to try to focus attention away from the massive launch aid only Airbus receives." Airbus parent EADS says in its statement: "Whatever the means of funding, we in Europe have to pay our loans back. Boeing just banks the money it receives as a subsidy."
GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC & JUSTIN WASTNAGE / BRUSSELS
Source: Flight International
