- Un rapporto dell'europea CCMI evidenzia la necessità
di attuare misure urgenti per salvare la navalmeccanica UE
-
- Analisi sulla preoccupante e profonda crisi della
cantieristica
-
- La Commissione Consultiva per le Trasformazioni Industriali
(CCMI) del Comitato Economico e Sociale Europeo (CESE) ha elaborato
una bozza di valutazione dello stato dell'industria cantieristica
navale europea alla luce dell'attuale crisi, che pubblichiamo di
seguito. Tale analisi sarà discussa alla prossima riunione
della CCMI in programma il prossimo 9 aprile.
-
- Il rapporto evidenzia la preoccupante e profonda crisi della
cantieristica europea, che è caratterizzata dall'assoluta
mancanza di nuovi ordini, da gravi problemi di finanziamento degli
ordinativi in portafoglio, da un eccesso di capacità
produttiva degli stabilimenti, da un processo irreversibile di
perdita di posti di lavoro e da un numero sempre crescente di
fallimenti e di chiusura di cantieri e di imprese legate
all'attività navalmeccanica.
-
- Il rapporto sottolinea la necessità di fronteggiare tale
situazione con una strategia europea comune che coordini l'azione
degli Stati membri e sottolinea la necessità di attuare
urgentemente tale strategia. In particolare, entro la metà di
quest'anno dovrebbero essere poste in atto misure per stimolare la
domanda, per facilitare il finanziamento delle costruzioni, incluso
la prosecuzione oltre il 2011 delle misure di finanziamento previste
alla disciplina europea sugli aiuti di Stato alla costruzione
navale, nonché misure per sostenere l'occupazione, incluse
misure di sostegno da porre in atto a seguito della chiusura di
cantieri, e per contrastare le attività di dumping e
concorrenza sleale.
-
- European Economic and Social Committee
-
- Brussels, 17 March 2010
-
- DRAFT OPINION
of
the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI) on The
European shipbuilding industry dealing with the current crisis-
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Study Group on The European
shipbuilding industry dealing with the current crisis |
President: |
János TÓTH (Gr. III - HU) |
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Rapporteur: |
Marian KRZAKLEWSKI (Gr. II - PL) |
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Co-rapporteur: |
Enrique CALVET CHAMBON (Cat. 1 - ES) |
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Members: |
Mr/Ms |
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BIELIÑSKI (Cat. 2 - PL) |
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BREWER (Cat. 1 - UK) |
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DHEJNE (Cat. 3 - SE) |
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GIBELLIERI (Cat. 2 - IT) |
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MICALLEF (Cat. 3 - MT) |
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OPRAN (Gr. I - RO) (Rule 62 - Oravec) |
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PALMGREN (Gr. III - FI) (Rule 62 -
Olsson) |
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SIECKER (Gr. II - NL) |
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SIMONS (Gr. I - NL) (Rule 62 - Frerichs) |
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CCMI President |
Joost VAN IERSEL (Gr. I - NL) |
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Expert: Mr Komolowski (for the
rapporteur) |
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-
- On 16 July 2009, the European Economic and
Social Committee, acting under Article 29(2) of its Rules of
Procedure, decided to draw up an own-initiative opinion on
-
- The European shipbuilding industry
dealing with the current crisis
-
- The Consultative Commission on Industrial
Change, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on
the subject, adopted its opinion on ….
- At its ... plenary session, held on …
(meeting of ...), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion by ... votes to ... with ... abstentions.
-
- ***
-
- 1. Conclusions and
recommendations
-
- 1.1 The European Economic and
Social Committee is very concerned at the profound crisis affecting
the EU shipbuilding industry, characterised by a complete lack of
new orders, major problems in financing existing orders,
overcapacity for construction of commercial vessels, irreversible
jobs losses with further lay-offs forecast, and an ever growing
number of bankruptcies and closures of shipyards and ancillary
businesses.
- 1.2 The Committee is convinced
that, as a result of the crisis, there is a need for a joint
European strategy for the future of the EU shipbuilding industry and
coordinated action by Member States in this regard. The first
elements of this strategy should be defined and implemented no later
than mid-2010 and should address the following urgent needs:
-
- stimulating demand
(see 4.1 and 4.1.1),
-
financing (including an prolongation beyond
2011 of measures under the Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding),
-
ensuring employment measures (including
support at the time of shipyard closures),
-
countering the absence of a level playing
field.
- These measures should help counteract the
tendency to adopt measures which might hamper competitiveness.
-
- 1.3 Given the lack of trade
regulations for the shipbuilding sector that are legally binding
throughout the world, the Committee believes that the Commission
should be urged to invest greater energy and to take more direct
action to protect this strategic sector. In the absence of an
international agreement at the OECD, however, the EU must take
direct and decisive action to protect the European shipbuilding
sector from unfair competition.
-
- 1.4 European and national
decision-makers, businesses in the sector and the social partners
must take urgent steps to implement this joint project1.
The political aims of the project are to:
-
- maintain a strong and competitive
industrial base for this high-tech sector in Europe capable of
delivering high-levels of sustainable employment in the future;
-
avoid short-sighted redundancies during the
downturn, maintain jobs and, equally important, to retain a
highly-skilled workforce in this strategic sector;
- give special consideration to the
environmental and energy-saving arguments in favour of maritime
transport - the European shipbuilding industry, and especially the
marine equipment sub-sector, has significant potential to improve
the situation in these two areas;
- ensure cohesion in endangered coastal
regions, including shipbuilding regions;
- prevent the manufacturing capacity of
shipyards from falling below the critical mass, otherwise the EU
will be unable to produce vessels in future;
- safeguard European know-how in the area of
shipbuilding finance;
- maintain European maritime skills (in
research and higher education, among other areas);
- ensure that the sector has significant
potential for growth, innovation and expansion in the area of R&D;
- In addition, there is a belief that the
costs of inaction are far greater than those of taking concrete
measures to support the sector now (see example from the USA)2.
- 1.5 The Committee calls on the
Council, the Commission and the Parliament to ensure that, as a
matter of strategic priority, Europe seeks to maintain the critical
mass that is required for shipbuilding and repair in Europe. This is
essential in order:
-
- To monitor progress on environmental and
energy matters in the area of transport and to monitor growth of
energy efficiency in this area..
-
Not to lose the sector's major technological
contribution to European industry, with its impact on other sectors
(external economies). Once a shipyard closes, it does not open
again.
- To take advantage of future growth
potential (e.g. making use of wind energy), which Europe may only do
by using its capabilities in the field of shipbuilding.
-
To retain a sufficient capacity to respond to
unprecedented conditions (in crisis situations, every vessel becomes
a strategic element of the struggle, including commercial vessels).
-
To maintain a skilled workforce and sufficient
high-level research in the shipbuilding industry, which otherwise
would pass entirely into non-European hands in areas such as
transport, sustainable growth, environmental conservation, and
technological excellence in innovation.
- 1.6 The Committee believes that the
loss of vital critical mass in the shipbuilding sector will lead to
the closure of institutions for training engineers and specialist
technical staff and vocational schools for specialist workers. This
means that the European Union risks losing critical intellectual
mass to the benefit of its commercial and political rivals.
-
- 1.7 The Committee believes that, as
in other sectors (e.g. automotive), Member States should pool their
efforts to take joint action at European level with a view to
enabling the sector to survive the crisis, with temporary short-term
measures that take account of the sector's characteristics.
-
- 1.7.1 These measures should ensure
that:
-
- new orders are secured as quickly as
possible;
- the link between shipyards, cooperating
businesses and workers with vital know-how is maintained when the
industry is going through a bad patch so that knowledge is not lost
irretrievably as a result of a temporary crisis.
- 1.8 As regards employment policy in
the sector, the Committee believes that all means should be employed
to prevent lay-offs. Qualified and skilled workers, of which there
has been a lack in recent years, must be kept on. For the duration
of the crisis in the sector, the public authorities must put in
place common European frameworks for short-time working arrangements
with a view to ensuring a level-playing field in Europe and
protecting workers. This protection must be available to any worker
who is at risk.
- 1.8.1 These frameworks must
guarantee that jobs and purchasing power are maintained wherever
possible, and ensure the right of all workers to access training and
retraining. Programmes are needed to train and retrain shipyard
workers in order to improve their individual skills and the general
level of qualifications in shipyards.
-
- Specific recommendations and proposals
of the Committee
- 1.9 Action should be stepped up at
European level in order to facilitate the urgent renewal of the
fleet to take account of environmental issues. To this end, it is
important to make use of the possibilities arising from the ENV aid
guidelines. The International Maritime Organisation should solve
environmental issues on an international level as a matter of
priority. This process is already under way.
-
- 1.10 Member States and the EU must
address the chronic problems of ship financing. A European financing
instrument for shipbuilding should therefore be set up with the EIB.
Industry, policy-makers and the EIB must explore how to make EIB
funds for the promotion of "green technologies" and clean
transport available to the shipbuilding sector.
- 1.11 There needs to be stricter
control of ship owners' business practices so that they do not use
European and national aid to purchase ships from shipyards outside
the EU.
-
- 1.12 Help and support should be
provided for the environmentally-friendly dismantling and
modernisation (retrofitting) of old vessels, with European quality
requirements for the shipyards that carry this out.
-
- 1.13 The Committee supports the
LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative as a good framework for all stakeholders
to jointly develop policies for the sector. Such a framework should
also be extended to other industry sectors.
-
- 1.13.1 LS 2015 must develop a
dynamic and bold action plan that focuses on strengthening the
European shipbuilding industry, maintaining high-skill employment
and addressing the environmental challenges linked to the
shipbuilding industry. It is vital that the proposals developed in
the context of LS 2015 are implemented by all stakeholders, in
particular the EU institutions and Member States.
-
- 1.14 The Committee recommends that
during the crisis the social partners make special use of the
opportunities for social dialogue with a view to drawing up joint
strategies for the future. Social dialogue is a platform for joint
ideas and solutions to tackle current and future challenges for the
shipbuilding sector. In this connection, social standards for
workers in the European shipbuilding industry must also be agreed
and implemented.
-
- 1.14.1 The Committee believes that
the application in the sector of the principle of corporate social
responsibility (CSR) should contribute to its sustainable
development.
-
- 1.14.2 The Committee urges that
specific measures be put in place in order to maintain the
worker-business link during long periods of weak demand (labour
pools, subsidised training, etc.).
-
- 1.14.3 The possibility of
earmarking some "social" support (ESF3,
ERDF, globalisation adjustment fund) temporarily for the
shipbuilding sector should be reviewed.
-
- 1.15 The Committee supports the
prompt establishment of a sectoral employment and skills council for
the shipbuilding sector, in accordance with the new Commission
strategy providing for the creation of such bodies.
- 1.16 Given the major importance of
"green" production and energy-saving vessels for the
survival of the industry, it is vital to ensure that shipbuilding
companies, colleges and the public authorities provide training and
retraining programmes to promote and develop a relevant set of
skills and competences enabling an effective transition to low
emissions and energy-saving vessels. The Committee supports the idea
of "green qualifications" for all workers in the sector.
-
- 1.16.1 Use should be made in the
shipbuilding sector of the ECVET, EQARF and EQF instruments to
facilitate mobility and boost competitiveness and productivity.
-
- 1.17 The shipbuilding industry
should be urged to broaden its objectives and activities (maritime
world, aquaculture, off-shore energies, arctic dimension, etc.).
-
- 1.18 Technological measures should
be directed towards new fields as well (including research) and the
role of technological platforms (for example Waterborne) and
collaboration between them strengthened.
-
- 1.19 The Commission should be urged
to provide more support and to take more urgent action to introduce
short sea-shipping, motorways of the sea and suitable vessels to use
them which meet European environmental and energy requirements.
-
- 1.20 The Committee believes that in
looking for solutions for European shipyards we cannot overlook an
assessment of the marine equipment manufacturers, which are directly
associated with them. The situation of this sector is significantly
better than that of the shipyards (not least because businesses can
relocate more easily). It is therefore worth examining the reasons
why these situations are different and to draw conclusions which
could be taken into account when we look for effective solutions for
European shipyards.
-
- The Committee intends to prepare a report
on this sector and its impact on the shipbuilding sector.
-
- 2. Introduction - background to opinion
and its objectives
-
- 2.1 The European shipbuilding
industry4 has been hit
particularly hard by the current crisis, due to:
-
- its financial requirements, which are
greater than in other sectors;
-
its enormous sensitivity to changes in world
trade, which is now in free fall as far as demand for shipbuilding
is concerned, largely as a result of the record growth in the number
of commercial vessels in the world, whose surplus clearly outstrips
the growth in the need for sea transport;
-
its competition, which comes primarily from
States that adopt an interventionist approach towards the
shipbuilding industry and view this sector as strategically
important;
-
the fact that this crisis has arisen at a time
when there is clear overcapacity of physical capital throughout the
world, significantly exceeding requirements;
-
the fact that this crisis has occurred just as
many European shipyards are emerging from an advanced and often
painful process of restructuring, modernisation and enhanced
technical development. An example of this is the situation of Polish
shipyards;
-
the specific features of this sector (huge
investments, long production cycles, prototypes and goods that are
never mass-produced, etc.), which in a number of ways make
shipbuilding inevitably and inherently rigid. In times of deep
crisis this leads to drastic measures such as shipyard closures.
- 2.2 There is a real danger of
losing the critical mass5
needed to sustain production of European shipyards and this factor
should be considered in order to assess the damage that such an
event would cause, from economic, social, technological and
strategic points of view, for the future of the Europe we wish to
build.
-
- 2.3 The abovementioned factors have
led the Committee to draw up this opinion, which focuses on the
specific consequences of the crisis for the shipbuilding industry.
The opinion examines the issue from economic and social perspectives
(concerning employment, high-quality jobs, and the regional impact)
and from technological and strategic angles.
-
- 2.4 In this opinion, the Committee
also carries out a mid-term review and evaluation of the
implementation of the LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative and seeks to answer
the following questions: what can be done to ensure success and
avoid failure, and how can this initiative be updated in response to
new factors emerging from the economic crisis?
-
- 3. The specific consequences of the
crisis for the shipbuilding industry
-
- 3.1 Given the unique nature of the
shipbuilding sector, it is important to stress that the accumulation
of financial problems in this sector, which is the result of both
the ongoing financing problems6,
and an unfavourable stage in the economic cycle, as well as the
withdrawal by investors of funding of previously placed orders (and
the ever increasing number of cases of trade in second-hand ships7)
poses a serious risk, especially as this branch of industry has
always had more financing problems than other sectors.
-
- 3.1.1 The EU shipbuilding sector,
and in particular the sub-sector of shipyards building large and
medium-sized ships, is also suffering from the absence of a level
playing field and from unfair competition from other parts of the
world, something which has been happening for decades.8
The sector still lacks a system of trade regulations that are
legally binding throughout the world. Furthermore, we cannot
overlook the fact that the crisis has highlighted overcapacity in
countries that are ruthlessly striving after permanent public
funding of national production.
-
- 3.1.2 Given the unprecedented
overlapping of many of the abovementioned adverse circumstances, the
problem with which the sector is currently confronted cannot be
treated simply as "history repeating itself", but rather
as a new and dramatic challenge. It is important to point out that
the nature of these difficulties is more financial than
industrial/structural.
- 3.1.3 However, the crisis presents
an opportunity to take steps to maintain and safeguard the critical
mass necessary to retain advanced technologies in this sector which,
although at risk of collapse, is key to maritime transport.
Unfortunately, European shipyards are at risk of losing this
critical mass.
-
- 3.2 The shipbuilding industry
demonstrates a characteristic tendency to lag behind any economic
recovery. Given this unfavourable tendency, unless the sector is
supported it may be fatally damaged which might also happen should
the temporary support measures already under way be discontinued too
early.
-
- 3.2.1 In the shipbuilding industry
a period of growth has given way to a period of decline. This has
been a familiar trend in the shipbuilding industry for decades and
the EU should anticipate the effects of the economic cycle in its
sectoral policies.
-
- 3.3 In discussing the causes and
consequences of the difficult situation in the sector, it is
important to mention the specific circumstances of countries such as
Poland or Romania.
- 3.3.1 The dramatic situation in
Poland, reflected in the current collapse of production at two major
shipyards in Gdynia and Szczecin, is the result of a combination of
several disastrous circumstances which were not anticipated several
years in advance. These were as follows:
- the abandonment of efforts to reform and
restructure the sector primarily as a result of the political
decision between 2002 and 2003 and the failure to take advantage of
the benign economic climate in the European and international market
between 2003 and 2008.
- 3.4 This is an industry of
strategic importance in itself, and also in relation to other
sectors and employment. This is particularly noteworthy and evident
in these times of crisis. The Commission and hopefully the current
EU presidency have also recognised this fact. Political action
should therefore be expected and required of them. Unfortunately to
date there has been a lack of clear support on the part of the
majority of those Member States which have a shipbuilding sector.
-
- 3.5 The social impact of the crisis
in the shipbuilding industry is very significant at regional level.
Rising unemployment in shipbuilding regions and the loss of a
significant proportion of regional GDP may be more drastic than in
national industries, in which support measures are being carried out
nationwide.
-
- 3.6 When a shipyard is closed down,
it is usually for good. At this point, know-how or advanced
technologies will be lost irretrievably. In practice, all
shipbuilding products are pilot or prototype products, with each of
them containing a different R&D component. If Europe loses them,
then the future of environmentally-friendly and low-carbon transport
guaranteed by "clean ships" will lie in other, uncertain
hands. In addition, the loss of critical mass poses the risk of
limiting access to energy and raw materials from the oceans and to
minerals extracted off-shore.
- 3.7 The repair sub-sector is not in
crisis, but may be beginning to feel the competition from
construction shipyards which are shifting their profile towards
repair. Recently, however, there have been cases where repair
shipyards have purchased (or leased) elements of manufacturing
infrastructure from construction shipyards and employed groups of
skilled workers from shipyards that have been shut down.
- 3.8 Shipbuilding and repair and the
high-tech equipment and materials used for this purpose play a key
role not least in defending Europe, improving protection and
security and the environment and in transferring technologies to
other areas of industry, which represents an important argument in
the search for a way out of the current crisis in the sector.
-
- 3.9 In describing the situation of
the shipbuilding sector, and especially that of shipyards, we cannot
overlook an assessment of the marine equipment manufacturing sector,
which is directly linked to it. In Europe, this sector employs
almost twice as many workers as the shipbuilding sector (excluding
employment in the yacht and recreational boat-building sector, which
is one and a half times greater than in the traditional shipbuilding
sector). The EU marine equipment manufacturing sector's share of
global production of hi-tech equipment is considerably higher than
that of shipyards, amounting to 36% (compared with Asia's 50% share,
which concerns products of a lower class). The situation of marine
equipment suppliers is therefore incomparably better than that of
shipyards.
-
- 3.10 It is therefore worth
examining the reasons why these situations are different and drawing
conclusions which could be taken into account when we look for
effective solutions for European shipyards. Solutions applied in
this sector and its natural ties to shipyards may create valuable
synergy worthy of implementation throughout the shipbuilding sector.
At the same time, we should not overlook the prognosis of a
considerable deterioration in the situation of the European
equipment sector in the event of a loss of critical mass by European
shipyards.
-
- 4. Proposed action and solutions for
dealing with the current crisis in the sector
- 4.1 There is an urgent need to
increase demand for the products and services offered by the entire
sector (including repair). The Committee believes that, to this end,
it is important to encourage the environmentally-friendly
modernisation (retrofitting) of old or unsafe as well as "polluting"
ships through legislative measures and economic incentives.
- 4.1.1 To bridge over the problem of
the poor market situation in this sector, the EU and Member States
could, among other things, support/finance environmental
improvements and energy savings in the EU commercial fleet, together
with the subcontracting industry/marine equipment.
- 4.2 Consideration should be given
to specific measures within the framework of "internal"
flexicurity, protecting the link between workers in the sector and
their know-how in the dumping phase of the cycle9.
These should be supported through negotiations within the framework
of social dialogue and the organisation of state aid measures for
this purpose.
-
- 4.2.1 Certain regional structural
support measures could be reviewed once again and focused on the
sector. The ERDF10 could be
a source of funding for some instruments of this type.
-
- 4.3 To date, the struggle for a
level playing field on the competitive market for shipbuilding and
ship repair has been neither serious nor fair. Free competition must
be ensured in Europe, but this sector, which has to square up to the
rest of the world, must be offered the same level of protection as
its competitors outside the EU.
-
- 4.3.1 If the shipbuilding sector is
to be regarded as strategically important, then, as far as
competition from outside the EU is concerned, we should take action
similar to that which is being taken for example in connection with
the motor vehicle sector. At the same time, however, the latest
agreement with Korea does not even require fulfilment of its most
recent and previous obligations; this is not a serious approach.
-
- 4.3.2 Korea must respect its
commitment to "normal value prices" and refrain from
bailing out shipyards. The Commission should recommend this at the
OECD meeting concerning the negotiations on the new shipbuilding
agreement.
- 4.4 Shipbuilding linked to defence
also has an important role to play in the sector's future.
Consideration should be given here to action undertaken by the
European Defence Agency which should be regarded as forward-looking.
It would be worth mentioning at this point the opportunities that
dual-use technologies will create for this sub-sector.
-
- 4.5 It is important to develop the
capacity and potential of the WATERBORNE technological platform in
connection with the shipbuilding sector as part of the 7th
R&D framework programme and its collaboration with other
technological platforms, and in so doing maintain the development of
one of shipyards' most important weapons, namely R&D&I
measures.
-
- 4.6 Maintaining a critical mass of
industry at European level is essential if we wish to have safe,
"green" and energy-saving ships, which will have a key
influence on the future of environmental protection at sea, the
costs of all transport and the protection and maintenance of
European transport in terms of energy supply (coastal ships,
platforms, worker accommodation on drilling platforms, offshore wind
farms, etc.) This is also linked to the idea of organising green
transport (short sea shipping, motorways of the sea, etc.)
-
- 4.6.1 Community guidelines on state
aid for environmental protection [2008/C82/01] explicitly mention
the acquisition of environmentally-friendly vessels. These
guidelines need to be implemented swiftly and without red tape.
- 4.7 In light of current challenges,
the general system of support provided by the framework programmes
does not suit the sector's needs since these programmes are prepared
with mass production sectors in mind, whereas the high-tech
shipbuilding sector usually produces prototypes.
-
- 4.8 The 2003 European financial
framework on state aid to shipbuilding (2003/C 317/06), which was
drawn up by the European Commission, is useful and should be
prolonged beyond 2011 in order to ensure reliable innovation
conditions. The renewed principles should correspond more
effectively to the specific and most recent needs of the sector and
ensure greater stability within it.
- 5. The LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative -
what can we do to ensure it helps the sector in the current crisis
and to avoid failure?
- 5.1 When the LeaderSHIP 2015 (LS)
initiative was drawn up by the sector and supported by EU
decision-makers in the 2002-2003 period, the prospects for the
European shipbuilding industry appeared to be rather poor. New
orders had dried up, and the costs of building new ships were low
and falling due to major growth in Asian production capacity.
-
- 5.1.1 The LS 2015 strategy is
currently at its halfway point but the sector is in a similar or -
given the global crisis - possibly even worse situation than at the
time the initiative was launched.
-
- 5.1.2 Six years ago, the LS 2015
initiative was understood as a vision based on faith in the
production capacities and innovative potential of the European
maritime sectors and on a determination to fight for the future. It
would appear that this approach still applies but the initiative
itself must be adjusted and adapted to the here and now in
particular by drawing conclusions from the period of its
establishment and implementation.
-
- 5.2 The assessment of the LS2015 by
the social partners from the shipbuilding sector is as follows:
- a. The key achievements are:
-
A shift in the way of thinking in the sector,
-
A change in the perception of the sector by
decision-makers and society,
- Politically consistent approach,
- The European nature of the initiative,
- Concrete progress in individual areas of
action (innovation, social dialogue, intellectual property rights,
technical principles of the production process).
- b. The key shortcomings are:
-
Several concrete proposals were not
implemented (LPF, financing),
-
Certain matters were not given proper
consideration (structure of the industry).
- 5.2.1 In short, the social partners
believe that the long-term approach must be adjusted using measures
that respond to the crisis.
- 5.3 In a document giving its view
on the progress of the LS 2015 programme's implementation two years
ago, the Commission gave the following final opinion: "LeaderSHIP
2015 continues to provide an appropriate framework for its policies
towards the shipbuilding sector. It should continue and be
accelerated where possible, particularly with regard to the issue of
ship financing. But it should also be noted that in many areas the
ball is largely in the field of industry (e.g. industry structure)
or of Member States." The Commission declares that it remains
committed to LeaderSHIP 2015 and will continue to strive to ensure
that the best policy mix is being crafted and applied at EU level.
- 5.4 Notwithstanding the content or
intentions of the above assessment, we need to make it quite clear
that, over two years since this document was drawn up, there is an
urgent need (largely due to the changes in the sector caused by the
crisis) for it to be updated and included in the programme of
renewed instruments, although the general outlines of the most
important measures relating to the sector do not seem to have lost
any of their relevance.
-
- 5.4.1 It appears that the main
problem in making a success of the LS 2015 initiative is that
planned activities are not being implemented effectively and that it
is finding limited expression in some Member States, especially
those which have not been members for long.
-
- 5.5 As regards the impact of the LS
2015 initiative on employment in the shipbuilding industry,
assessments in some circles have been quite sceptical11.
They find fault with the initiative for its lack of concrete
implementation. They stress that the only changes achieved due to
implementation of LS2015 were mainly of a qualitative nature and
concerned new skills for workers.
-
- _____________
-
|
1 |
The planned response to the crisis was
drawn up in Bremerhaven at the meeting of high-level
representatives within the framework of the LeaderSHIP initiative. |
|
2 |
The commercial impact of a loss of
critical mass in the USA was a 300% increase in the costs of
building new vessels following the crisis in the sector. |
|
3 |
European Social Fund. |
|
4 |
A definition of this term can be found in
the glossary at the end of the opinion. |
|
5 |
A minimum level of total production in
the shipyards of EU Member States is essential in order to ensure
that the shipbuilding sector continues to function in the EU. |
|
6 |
Ever increasing funding problems as a
result of low profit margins (CESA). |
|
7 |
The surplus of ships significantly
outstrips the growth in the need for sea transport; if all the new
ships were placed end to end they would stretch out over an area
of 60 nautical miles (according to Bloomberg and Clarkson Research
Services). |
|
8 |
See other CCMI opinions referring to the
problem of unfair competition: CCMI/002,CCMI/029,CCMI/054. |
|
9 |
The period in which the effects of the
crisis and the downturn in the economic cycle appear (very limited
number of orders). |
|
10 |
European Regional Development Fund. |
|
11 |
Presentation: "Assessment of the
impact of the LeaderSHIP 2015 programme on employment in the
shipbuilding sector", Jerzy Bieliñski, Renata Ploska,
University of Gdansk, Poland. |
|
12 |
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/maritime/index_en.htm
. |
|
13 |
ECORYS, Study on Competitiveness of the
European shipbuilding Industry, Rotterdam, October 2009. |
|
14 |
http://www.emec.eu/marine_equipment/index.asp
. |
|
15 |
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/maritime/index_en.htm
. |
|
16 |
EMEC members: Austria, Croatia, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands,
Norway, Turkey and United Kingdom.. |
|
17 |
http://www.emec.eu/marine_equipment/index.asp
. |
- ***
-
- N.B.: Appendix overleaf.
-
-
- Appendix
-
- Glossary of Terms:
-
- Shipbuilding (including ship repair
and conversion): is directed at the larger (mainly
sea-going) vessels, intended for merchant/commercial purposes, but
also naval vessels. It also addresses the products and services
supplied for the building, conversion, and maintenance of these
ships (seagoing and inland)12.
Within the shipbuilding industry two sub-sectors can be
distinguished13:
-
- Ship Construction
-
Marine Equipment
- Ship Construction: includes
the building of ships, ship repair (and conversion) and is directed
at larger commercial seagoing vessels. This also includes the
mega-yacht sub-sector.
-
- Marine Equipment: comprises
all products and services supplied for the building, conversion and
maintenance of ships (seagoing and inland) and maritime structures.
This includes technical services in the field of engineering,
installation and commissioning, and ship maintenance (including
repair)14.
-
- Facts and Figures:
-
- Shipyards:
-
- There are around 150 large shipyards in
Europe, with around 40 of them active in the global market for large
sea-going commercial vessels. Around 120,000 people are directly
employed by shipyards (civilian and naval, new building and repair)
in the European Union. With a market share of around 15% in volume
terms, Europe is still vying with the countries of East Asia for
global leadership in terms of the value of civilian ships produced
(EUR 15 billion in 2007)15.
-
- Marine Equipment:
-
- Direct employment in the marine equipment
sector is estimated at more than 287 000 whilst indirect employment
amounts to about 436 000. The annual turnover of the sector in 2008
was estimated at around EUR 42 billion16.
Nearly 46% of equipment produced is for export. The marine equipment
sector is the third largest in the maritime cluster after shipping
and fisheries17.
-
|
|