Today Is Judgment Day For Airbus State Aid Row
By: Ainsley Brown
Is the aid given to Airbus by the governments of Germany, the UK and France in violation of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) subsidies agreement?
The answer to this question is expected to be known by the parties today when the WTO is expected to hand down its confidential ruling to the parties. Confidential rulings are part of WTO litigation practice; they allow the parties to go over the implications of the ruling and possible responses but more importantly it allows the parties a chance to reach a negotiated settlement, after careful deliberations, before rulings are made public. However, if such settlement cannot be reached the ruling is not only made public but is made binding.
The claim was brought by the US against the European Union (EU) alleging that Airbus received about $15 billion, over the lifetime of the company, in violation of the WTO’s subsides agreement.
This row between the US and EU has been an on going one characterized by a tit for tat exchange of allegations between the two. The US for its part would allege that Airbus has been subsidized by the EU and the EU in turn would allege that Boeing has been subsidized by the US. In fact the WTO is also expected to rule in about six months, unless a settlement is reached before, on the alleged subsidization of Boeing by the US.
