Quickbites

Breuer had said that Deutsche is not interested in taking control of big French bank BNPO, but might acquire a stake in CL. The choice of the privatization procedure and of the purchasers in case of an agreed sale is up to the French government. While the bank indicated it was presenting its chairman8217;s view of the big German bank8217;s interest, Peyrelevade is unlikely to have spoken against the wishes of the economics and finance ministry, sources close to the matter said. The European Commission has just given the French government a month to supply itwith a final list of asset disposals that would enable the Commission to approve the government8217;s restructuring and rescue plan for the bank, which has a troubled financial history.

France, US close to air deal: Delta

France and the United States are close to a bilateral agreement on Air transport, an official of the US airline Delta said on Friday. Commenting on the talks under way here since Monday, Scott Yohe said: quot;We are very close to an agreement. There has been significant progress this week even if a few problems have yet to be solved.quot; He told journalists that most of the problems concerning passengers had been settled but work had yet to be done concerning freight traffic. quot;If we do not reach agreement today, another round of negotiations will be organised very quickly because the aim is to reach an agreement before the summer season.quot; The two sides had agreed on a period of transition of five years regarding passenger traffic. At the end of this period the opening of routes betweenFrance and the United States would be unrestricted.

EU appeals WTO in computer row

The European Union Friday lodged an appeal against a verdict by the World Trade Organization which ruled in favour of the United States in a bilateral row over computer equipment classification. A panel of experts in February backed Washington8217;s claim that Brussels was at fault for failing to accord Local Area Network LAN equipment tariff treatment as automatic data processor ADP machines. The European Commission had classed such products as telecom apparatus, which carries a higher tariff duty. The WTO panel said the classification violated global trade rules. But it added that the United States had failed to provide sufficient proof with regard to multimedia personal computers. The panel8217;s conclusions on LAN equipment quot;do not correspond to the EC8217;s views of the factual situation,quot; the EC said in a statement issued in Geneva. Brussels treated LAN equipment as telecom apparatus rather than as ADPs since itsmain function is to transmit and communicate data.