Airbus Looks To Boeing To Live Up To Previous Rhetoric On WTO Compliance Next Year

Europe has implemented the WTO findings it ways has brought the parties into full conformity with WTO obligations. Airbus said in a statement that the WTW ruling in May of 2011 confirmed that European partnership with Airbus is legal and that government support to Airbus did not cause material injury to Boeing. While pleased with the WTO’s substantial affirmation of the European position in the decision, Airbus respects that the decision did contain limited findings of subsidy effects requiring action within six months of the decision.

"Today we have presented a comprehensive package of actions that achieves full compliance with the WTO recommendations and rulings in the Airbus case," said John Clancy, spokesman for European Union trade commissioner Karel De Gucht.

“We only needed to make limited changes in European policies and practices to comply with the Appellate Body’s report; we did what we needed to do and we did it in the agreed timeframe,” said Rainer Ohler, Airbus’ Head of Public Affairs and Communications. “Today, we call on the US and Boeing to do the same next year. We realize that this will mean substantial sacrifice for Boeing due to the far broader scope and scale of WTO findings of US subsidy to Boeing”.

Following a review with independent experts of what obligations resulted from the WTO’s ruling, Europe has adopted a course of action it says addresses all forms of adverse effects, all categories of subsidies and all models of Airbus aircraft covered by the WTO report. As a result, Europe has ensured full implementation of the WTO recommendations and rulings. The WTO will publicly disclose information regarding these measures at a later stage. Airbus calls on all parties to recognize that Europe has implemented in good faith, and to return to vigorous marketplace competition rather than further attempts to stifle competition through unjustified legal processes. 

Airbus calls for a show of similar good faith in the implementation of the judgment of Boeing aid coming early next year. Airbus remains concerned that recent media reports of massive federal tax subsidies for Boeing suggest that it will continue to flout the rules of the game. Airbus will carefully follow this separate case to ensure that the playing field remains fair on both sides of the Atlantic.

Boeing still contends that the WTO ruling showed Airbus was the beneficiary of $18 billion in illegal European government subsidies over 40 years. In a statement, the U.S. planemaker said EU officials had publicly acknowledged their compliance obligation. Boeing said it "will work with the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that all of the illegal subsidies have indeed been removed and that full compliance has been achieved. We expect Airbus and its government sponsors to demonstrate that the practice of market-distorting launch aid – the most pernicious form of subsidy Airbus was found to have received – has ended."

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.boeing.com