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Germany urges EU to work with China over piracy

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-04-12 09:05

BERLIN - The European Union should try to solve a dispute with China over product piracy without open confrontation, but tougher measures could be necessary if this fails, Germany said on Wednesday.

Deputy Economy Minister Bernd Pfaffenbach said action taken by the United States at the World Trade Organisation against China for piracy was a "quite legitimate procedure," but that the EU would have to decide jointly on whether to support it.

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Pfaffenbach said piracy was a long-standing issue which Germany would raise at a G8 summit in Heiligendamm on June 6-8.

"When we press on with the subject at the G8 summit, and obviously within the EU, we will very clearly aim for a structured dialogue with the Chinese," he told reporters.

Germany, which has been the world's biggest exporter of goods for the past four years, loses an estimated 25 billion euros ($33.57 billion) each year from product piracy and patent theft, according to the BDI industry federation.

Charging China was breaking its 2001 WTO entry agreement, Washington on Tuesday sought consultations with Beijing over piracy and blocked access for US films, books and software.

This could lead to a formal case being brought if no deal is struck within 60 days. China said the decision could seriously damage cooperation and hurt bilateral trade.

Pfaffenbach said Germany favoured a two-pronged approach to the issue, which he said was increasingly problematic for the emerging countries where it was most widespread.

"On the one hand, we want to strengthen our weapons -- that means in pursuing offences," he said, noting one method was to improve electronic networking of national customs authorities.

"And then we want to take up this subject with the strong emerging countries to find a solution," he added.

"If cooperation should fail -- I don't want to make any threats here because I'm very confident about this process -- then it may actually be difficult to convince some of our partners that confrontation is not needed."

China regularly defends its record on fighting piracy, saying it is a developing country and needs time.