GENEVA (AP) — The European Union said Thursday it has complied with a World Trade Organization ruling that called for an end to unfair government aid to aircraft maker Airbus.
U.S. trade officials and rival Boeing Inc. responded that they would study closely the EU's submission to ensure all illegal subsidies had been removed.
"We have presented a comprehensive package of actions that achieves full compliance with the WTO recommendations and rulings in the Airbus case," said John Clancy, a spokesman for the EU's trade office.
"Through this package we address all categories of subsidies, all forms of adverse effects, and all models of Airbus aircraft covered by the WTO rulings," Clancy said. He declined to offer further details on how exactly the EU intends to comply with the panel ruling.
The Geneva-based WTO had given the EU until Dec. 1 to comply with a WTO appeals body decision in May, which found Airbus received state subsidies that hurt Boeing.
The disputed subsidies, which Washington claims amounted to $18 billion over several decades, are part of a long-running trans-Atlantic trade spat.
The European Union has in turn brought a case against the United States over aid to Boeing that a WTO appeals panel is expected to rule on early next year.
"The United States will be in the same position as we are today," said Clancy. "At that point the EU expects to receive an equally solid set of compliance actions from the United States."
Airbus itself said it "remains concerned that recent media reports of massive federal tax subsidies for Boeing suggest that it will continue to flaunt the rules of the game."
