2010-07-21 21:19

BRUSSELS - The European Union said Wednesday it will appeal a WTO ruling that Airbus received illegal state aid from EU member states.

"The EU has today lodged its appeal with the WTO Appellate Body on the panel report concerning Airbus support (DS316) issued on 30 June 2010," the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in a statement.

"While the report sides with the EU in rejecting a significant number of US claims, there are other aspects of the report which need to be corrected or clarified," the statement said.

The EU said it questioned a number of findings by the WTO panel, which said "certain instances of repayable launch investment (RLI) for the A380 are export subsidies" and there are "a causal link between Airbus support and any adverse effects to Boeing has been established".

"This dispute is too important to allow the legal misinterpretations of the panel to go unchallenged. What is more, not appealing would allow for an unhelpful precedent for the WTO membership as a whole," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.

"A damaging precedent could arise if certain of the Panel's legal interpretations are allowed to stand, resulting not only in a disservice to the entire WTO membership but also putting an unwarranted burden on Airbus and the Member States concerned," he said.

The US lodged a complaint with the WTO in 2004 over EU support to Airbus, which allegedly helped the European plane maker seize more than half of the market for civil airlines from its US rival Boeing.

Meanwhile, the EU also made a similar complaint over the US's alleged support of Boeing.