WRITTEN QUESTION E-0568/96 by Peter Pex (PPE), Leen van der Waal (EDN) and Bartho Pronk (PPE) to the Commission (11 March 1996)

Subject: Commission decision of 20 December 1995 on the granting of a subsidy of PTA 90 billion for Spanish shipbuilding

Can the Commission indicate what proportion of this subsidy is for interest on arrears of payments?

The Member States were told that there would be a consultation before the Commission took a decision. The Commission however has not kept its promise and has taken a final decision without reference to the Member States. What were the reasons and does the Commission consider that this was a correct course of action in relation to the Member States concerned?

Can the Commission provide clarification on the inquiry into the national tax benefits which the Spanish shipbuilding industry will receive from 1995-98. Are they compatible with the European rules on state aid?

Did the subsidy of PTA 90 billion, supplementing the previous subsidy of 180 billion approved under the OECD agreement, not distort competition within the Union and can the Commission confirm the reports that in Spain subsidies of 50% are granted for the construction of fishing vessels?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (25 April 1996)

On 20 December 1995 the Commission decided to authorize the payment of outstanding previously approved loss compensation aid amounting to PTA 89 104 000 million not yet paid due to budgetary constraints, comprising PTA 64 196 000 million in principal and PTA 24 908 000 million in interest accrued, within the framework of a restructuring plan for the publicly-owned yards. This aid forms part of the package of up to PTA 180 000 million aid in the derogation for Spain under the Organization for economic cooperation and development agreement, and is in no way additional to that derogation. The remaining elements of the package (PTA 80 000 million for social aid and PTA 10 000 million for investment aid) are still under examination.

Also on 20 December 1995, the Commission decided to initiate proceedings under Article 93(2) of the EC Treaty to investigate the compatibility with the common market of proposed future tax credits to the yards.

The loss compensation aid was approved in accordance with Article 5a of the shipbuilding aid directive (Directive 90/684/EEC as amended by Directive 94/73/EC ((OJ L 351, 31.12.1994. ))), which required a Commission decision by 31 December 1995. Given that the Spanish aid notification was not received until November, there was insufficient time to consult Member States before taking a decision. However, Member States are being consulted on the outstanding aspects of the Spanish restructuring plan at a multilateral meeting. Moreover, the Commission's letter informing the Spanish authorities of its decisions will be published in the Official journal so that other Member States and third parties will have access to further information and have an opportunity to comment within the framework of the proceedings under Article 93(2) of the EC Treaty.

Aid for fishing vessels is governed by the guidelines for the examination of state aid to fisheries, ((OJ C 260, 17. 9.1994. )) and in particular the criteria and scales set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 3699/93 ((OJ L 346, 31.12.1993. )). Those rules provide that state participation in the construction of new fishing vessels may amount to up to 60% of the investment (see Table 3 in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 3699/93). Such aid may be granted only for vessels based in regions covered by Objective 1 under the structural funds (most of the Spanish fishing ports fall within this category) and hence not for fishing vessels built in the regions concerned, but intended for fishing from other regions.