2-3 July: Industry Ministers Informal

Date: 08/07/1999

MINISTERS welcomed a report by Finnish Industry Minister Erkki Tuomioja warning that failure to equip EU workers with information and communications technology (ICT) skills could jeopardise both jobs and prosperity. “Skills shortages are preventing industry from potentially extending their activities,” he said in the report, cautioning that as many as 1.6 million jobs could be at risk within the next three years if the problem was not addressed immediately. “A greater need is emerging for partnerships between the public and private sectors in finding a good and efficient balance in education provision by the two sectors,” he added. Helsinki called for the creation of an EU 'innovation system' which would “guarantee adequate dissemination of results and find appropriate means to make commercial use of these innovations”.

TUOMIOJA said the EU would file a complaint against South Korea in the World Trade Organisation as a result of concerns that the country used funds from international organisations to subsidise shipbuilders. Finnish officials said the Union would also raise the matter at meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. “We must be active towards Korea so that what to us is clearly unfair competition and an abuse of the IMF aid package directly into subsidies to companies is ended,” said Tuomioja. Martin Bangemann, who was suspended from his post as Acting Industry Commissioner last week after accepting a post at a company he used to regulate, had been due to report to the meeting on the issue.

THE Council, the first under Finland's presidency of the EU, was overshadowed by a German and Austrian boycott in protest as Helsinki's refusal to allow German to be used as a working language during informal ministerial meetings.