WRITTEN QUESTION P-0591/98 by Honório Novo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (23 February 1998)

Subject: Express railway for Porto - tendering procedure

Last week it was reported in the Portuguese media that the Commission had asked the Portuguese authorities to provide explanations on the procedure for inviting tenders and awarding the contract for the construction of an electrified express railway serving the Metropolitan Area of Porto (known as the Porto metro). It appears that this request is linked to an appeal lodged with the Commission by the last bidder rejected in the public tendering procedure, apparently on the same grounds as were alleged in a previous appeal to the Portuguese contracting undertaking, which rejected the appeal.

The Commission will no doubt be aware that the long-awaited and badly needed construction of the express railway has been affected by a series of delays since it was first announced (at the end of the 1980s) and officially presented (1993), the reasons for which naturally lie with the national and local authorities involved in the project.

In this context, the Commission surely appreciates that a fresh delay, this time caused by the Commission itself, is likely to increase the exasperation felt by the public, who should by now have been able to enjoy the benefits of this project, and at the same time lead to growing public distrust of the Community institutions.

Finally, the Commission should be aware that fresh delays to the project may compromise the sound and full execution of Community funds for reasons which could not then be attributed to the national authorities. Given that we are coming to the end of CSF II, such delays might lead to an accumulation of projects in the final year of the CSF (1999).

1. Is the Commission aware that the grounds alleged by the losing bidder had already been substantially addressed in connection with the appeal submitted in Portugal and rejected by the competent national authorities?

2. Is the Commission in a position to take steps to remedy the consequences arising from the delays caused by its request for clarification in the event that those explanations show the appeal to be without foundation? If so, what will these steps be?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (5 May 1998)

The Commission does not doubt the importance of the proposed rail link for the public of Porto or the benefits it may bring for day-to-day life in the area.

However, in is capacity as guardian of the Treaties, the Commission has the task of ensuring that the provisions of Community legislation are correctly applied and that, in this connection, all complaints lodged with it against practices that may be in breach of Community law are examined, irrespective of whether or not they have been lodged with the national authorities and irrespective of the outcome of presentation to the national authorities. It is the Commission's duty in particular to intervene where Community funds may be involved, as is indeed so in the case at issue, so as to ensure that they are correctly used.

A request for information has thus been sent to the Portuguese authorities, asking for a swift reply and suspending the award procedure until the matters raised have been fully clarified. Once it has received that information, the Commission will take all the steps that it deems appropriate.