In November 2000, in view of Korea’s non-compliance with the terms of the Agreed Minutes, the Commission presented, for the Council's consideration at its meeting on 4 and 5 December 2000, a strategy on the basis of which it would negotiate with Korea with the aim of achieving a satisfactory agreement and, having reported back to the Council by 1 May 2001 at the latest on the stage that negotiations had reached by then, it would propose, if no negotiated solution had been achieved, to refer the matter to the WTO in order to have the unfair practices of the Koreans penalised.

In June 2000, the Commission and South Korea signed up to Agreed Minutes which included commitments on price and aid discipline and a fast consultation mechanism.

18. Recognises that the Agreed Minutes relating to the world shipbuilding market signed by the EU and Korea on 22 June 2000 constituted progress in the negotiations with that country; deplores, however, the fact that Korea has not abided by its commitments regarding transparency of pricing, as demonstrated by the failure of the Commission's on-the-spot mission of anti-dumping experts last September;

(1) Hereinafter referred to as 'the EEA Agreement`; see in particular Article 57 of the EEA Agreement (point 1 of Annex XIV to the EEA Agreement and Protocol 4 to the Agreement between the EFTA States on the establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice), as well as Protocols 21 and 24 to the EEA Agreement and Article 1, and the Agreed Minutes of the Protocol adjusting the EEA Agreement.

The commitments contained in the Agreed Minutes signed by the European Commission and the Government of the Republic of Korea on 22 June 2000 with a view to ensuring an effective price surveillance mechanism have not been effectively implemented by the Korean side and therefore a satisfactory result has not been obtained.

The Agreement on the European Economic Area between the European Communities, their Member States and the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland, the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden and the Swiss Confederation, the Protocols, the Annexes annexed thereto and the Declarations, the Agreed Minutes and exchanges of letters attached to the Final Act are hereby approved on behalf of the European Community and the European Coal and Steel Community.