EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/323

(2004/C 88 E/0328)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0370/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(6 February 2003)

Subject: Closure of the Clarks factory in Portugal — Community aid — Relocation

The Portuguese media have extensively reported the recent announcement of the forthcoming closure of a shoe factory belonging to the British multinational Clarks in Castelo de Paiva, in the north of the country. As a result of this unexpected closure, some 600 workers will be made redundant and this will have a particularly devastating impact on the living conditions of families and workers resident in the area, which is in fact situated, for the purposes of the structural funds, in an Objective 1 region.

To set up the plant in 1988 and begin production in Castelo de Paiva, the company received considerable support from national and Community funds and was scheduled to continue production at least until 2007.

It has frequently been reported that Clarks is relocating the factory from Portugal to Romania and is now hoping that, by opening the new plant in Romania, it will become eligible for further Community funding as part of the aid being made available for pre-accession and the future integration of this Eastern European country.

Does the Commission have duly substantiated information regarding Clarks' intention to relocate its factory from Portugal to Romania? Can the Commission guarantee that, as direct or indirect Community funding was granted for the Portuguese factory, no further direct or indirect funding will be granted to the Clarks group for the new factory in Romania (which would be equivalent to an indirect ‘premium’ for the closure of the Portuguese factory)?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(24 April 2003)

The Commission does not have any specific information concerning this company's intention to relocate from Portugal to Romania. Moreover, to the Commission's knowledge, the company in question has not received pre-accession aid for the relocation of one of its plants, initially set up in Portugal, to Romania. Direct aid to companies under the PHARE programme is essentially aid for small and medium-sized enterprises, and aid for the ‘relocation’ of companies is not eligible. In general, pre-accession aid is administered by the candidate countries within programmes approved by the Commission, which means that there is no direct aid from the Commission and that the programming of aid is based on recognised development needs and/or a region or country's need for preparation for accession. The choice of location of a business depends on the market and is based on an analysis of the regions' and countries' comparative advantages. The direct aid available plays only a very minor role in these choices, especially as it is determined in accordance with global development needs rather than the needs of individual companies.

The Commission would also like to draw the Honourable Member's attention to its reply to Written Question P-89/03 by Ms Bastos (1), and in particular to those aspects related to the Community provisions which apply in this area.

(1) OJ C 11 E, 15.1.2004, p. 67.