# CE2004078EN.01037502.xml

| 27.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 78/375 |
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27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 78/375

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(2004/C 78 E/0398)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1632/03

by Renato Brunetta (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 May 2003)

Subject:   Sale of the ‘Vittoriosa Gaming’ company by the ‘Casinò Municipale di Venezia’

Subject:

According to reports in the Venetian press, the ‘Casinò Municipale di Venezia SpA’, an entirely public company of which the Venice municipality is the main shareholder, has been involved in a major transaction to sell its holding in ‘Vittoriosa Gaming Ltd’ (which runs the Casino in Malta).

It has also been reported that the ‘Meliorbanca’ bank acted as advisors in this transaction.

Will the Commission ascertain:

| — | whether this transfer has been carried out and, if so, on what terms, given that until recently the mere intention was denied and/or ruled out? |
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whether this transfer has been carried out and, if so, on what terms, given that until recently the mere intention was denied and/or ruled out?

| — | whether the transaction advisor was selected on the basis of a public tender procedure or, at least, a public selection procedure? |
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whether the transaction advisor was selected on the basis of a public tender procedure or, at least, a public selection procedure?

| — | whether, if it is true that Mr Ferruccio Piantini, son of Mr Giorgio Piantini, chairman of the ‘Casinò Municipale di Venezia SpA’ company, is vice-chairman of Meliorbanca, this is not tantamount to an unacceptable ‘conflict of interests’, especially if the contract is awarded by the Casinò di Venezia company to the Meliorbanca bank by direct private negotiation? |
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whether, if it is true that Mr Ferruccio Piantini, son of Mr Giorgio Piantini, chairman of the ‘Casinò Municipale di Venezia SpA’ company, is vice-chairman of Meliorbanca, this is not tantamount to an unacceptable ‘conflict of interests’, especially if the contract is awarded by the Casinò di Venezia company to the Meliorbanca bank by direct private negotiation?

| — | whether such sales transactions are being conducted in compliance with Community and national (Maltese and Italian, in particular) law? |
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whether such sales transactions are being conducted in compliance with Community and national (Maltese and Italian, in particular) law?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(12 June 2003)

(12 June 2003)

At this stage, the Commission is unable to determine whether the transaction in question has indeed taken place and whether it has been carried out in compliance with relevant Community rules.

The Commission invites the Honourable Member to provide further information on this issue, bearing in mind however that the Commission is only competent to monitor the application of Community law and will consequently not be able to answer any question related to the correct application, by the Italian bodies involved, of the relevant Italian and Maltese legislation.

With regard to the specific issue of whether the ‘Casinó municipale de Venise SpA’ company complied with the Community rules on public procurement when choosing the ‘advisor’ for the sales transaction in question, the Commission does not yet have the information required in order to answer the question asked by the Honourable Member.

The Commission will therefore contact the Italian authorities to obtain the information required in order to ascertain, first of all, whether the ‘Casinó municipale de Venise SpA’ company can be defined as a contracting authority under the terms of the Community public procurement directives and if it is thus obliged to apply the aforementioned rules. Should these rules apply, the Commission will investigate whether they have been observed in the choice of ‘advisor’ for the share transfer transaction mentioned by the Honourable Member.

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