The Large Civil Aircraft Industry: Applying Legal Policy-Making Tools to Accommodate a Changing Industry

This note first examines the emergence of Airbus Industrie (Al or Airbus) and identifies some of the legal and policy instruments which the European governments have employed to make Al a successful competitor. After a brief discussion of the growing difficulties with subsidy policies, the note considers European Community legislation for a common European industrial policy and the creation of a European Export Bank as possible alternative solutions for maintaining Al’s competitiveness. The note finally argues that international industrial agreements are necessary legal tools for effective regulation of the manufacture and sale of large civil aircraft. International agreements currently in force show that the Al member countries and the United States are capable of dealing with certain pressing problems in the industry on an international level. Because the fierce competition between Al and Boeing and the internationalization of the industry have rendered purely national industrial policies insufficient, further cooperative international industrial agreements are necessary.