Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ

Industry ministers of the European Community last week issued a statement
on Europe’s beleaguered electronics industry which pointedly failed to endorse
large government subsidies for research. The statement comes as the commission
investigates French attempts to bail out the Bull computer company. The
investigation threatens to limit state investments in private sector research.

The ministers were to have outlined what kinds of state assistance to
private companies might be permitted under the Community’s competition rules.
The Commissioner for competition, Leon Brittan, opposes most state aid for
industry, while France wants to permit some assistance to ‘strategic’ industries.

In the end the ministers dropped the subject, and called merely for
general free market measures: no ‘dumping’ of imports, more access to foreign
markets, common technical standards and unrestricted government purchasing
within Europe. A senior official in Brittan’s department called the statement
‘toothless’ for failing to restrict state aid.

Earlier this year, France tried to inject four billion francs (£400
million) in capital, plus 2.7 billion francs in research funding over the
next four years, into the partially state-owned computer company Bull. Results
of the investigation by Brittan’s department, expected early next year,
will set a precedent as to what state research funding private companies
may receive. Peter Guilford, Brittan’s spokesman, says the government aid
may be allowed if it simply helps Bull to restructure itself to meet changes
in the electronics market.