WRITTEN QUESTION E-1393/96 by Spalato Belleré (NI) to the Commission (6 June 1996)

Subject: Contracts for passenger handling services and cleaning of airports, aeroplanes, railway stations and trains

Is the Commission aware that contracts for passenger handling services and cleaning of airports, aeroplanes, trains and railway stations, are awarded to cooperatives firms, for very long periods of time which vary from a minimum of five to a maximum of nine years?

Some Member countries (Italy for example) reached a framework agreement in 1992 on the reopening of tendering but it has not yet been implemented.

Given that the EU has funds available for the various Member States for these measures, would it not be useful, for transparency's sake, to encourage the Member States to issue invitations to tender at more regular intervals so as to open competition to other firms, which have hitherto been excluded from bidding even though they are registered in the same sector?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (31 July 1996)

With regard to the term of the contracts in question, Article 85(1) of the EC Treaty prohibits 'all agreements between undertakings (...) which may affect trade between Member States and which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the common market'.

The Commission considers that - under certain conditions or in certain circumstances - exclusive, long-term service contracts may contravene Article 85(1). Of the cases referred to by the Honourable Member, the Commission recently began investigating a number of long-term contracts for airport passenger and runway services.

On 28 March 1996 the Council adopted a common position ((OJ C 134, 6.5.1996, p. 30. )) on a draft Directive, presented by the Commission, on access to the ground-handling market at Community airports. The Directive - on which Parliament is due to give its opinion at second reading - stipulates that, from 1999, contracts for the provision of services at airports are to be for a maximum term of seven years and must be put out to tender at EU level.

As regards existing contract-award procedures, the information currently at the Commission's disposal provides insufficient basis for it to conclude that contracts for passenger handling services and for cleaning planes, airports, trains and stations may have been awarded in a manner contrary to Community law.

It should be noted that a number of such contracts have been put out to tender via the Official Journal of the European Communities, as may be seen by consulting the TED (tenders electronic daily) database. With specific regard to Italy, a contract for the provision of cleaning services in the new terminal at L. da Vinci di Fiumicino airport was put out to open tender in accordance with the rules. ((OJ S 27, 8.2.1996, p. 203. ))

If the Honourable Member is able to supply detailed information on specific instances in which the public-procurement rules have been breached, the Commission will naturally pursue the matter with the Member State(s) concerned.

The Commission of course fully endorses the Honourable Member's view that contract-award procedures need to become more transparent, and believes that this should be achieved first and foremost by stringently applying the Community legislation already in place.