WRITTEN QUESTION No. 294/96 by Sérgio RIBEIRO to the Commission. Privatisation of the Setenave shipyards in Setúbal, Portugal
Date: 1996-02-07
Institutions: European Parliament, RIBEIRO
Subjects: Alentejo, European Commission, State aid, control of restrictive practices, dominant position, privatisation, sale, shipbuilding, social policy













EUR-Lex - 91996E0294 - EN






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91996E0294

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 294/96 by Sérgio RIBEIRO to the Commission. Privatisation of the Setenave shipyards in Setúbal, Portugal  


Official Journal C 217 , 26/07/1996 P. 0021 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-0294/96 by Sérgio Ribeiro (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (7 February 1996)Subject: Privatisation of the Setenave shipyards in Setúbal, PortugalA further step is apparently being taken in the complex process of privatising Portugal's naval shipyards.Following the transfer to the Mello Group of the Lisnave shipyards and the creation of a consortium consisting of Lisnave, Soponata and Norwegian investors to exploit the resources of Setenave, the privatisation of these shipyards would seem to be complete. This has taken place by private treaty, without the required international public tendering procedure, and involves the disappearance of Solisnor, which is being directly transferred to Lisnave, thereby consolidating the dominance of the Mello Group in the area of naval construction and repairs in Portugal, as well as the merger of the Mitrena works with those at Margueira.The workers in this sector and their trade union and company organizations are the first and principal victims of this type of 'monopoly repossession' and rumours are circulating among them that the Commission recently promoted a meeting in Brussels attended by representatives of the Portuguese Government and the Mello Group. Was such a meeting held, what was its purpose, what took place during the meeting and what was the outcome?Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (4 March 1996)The programme for the restructuring of the Portuguese shipbuilding and ship repair industry involves the transfer of ship repair activities from Mitrena to Margueira. This transfer, which is still in progress, requires aid from the Portuguese Government to help fund the social programme and the investment necessary to convert the ship repair facilities at Margueira. This aid was approved by the Commission in June 1995.The final part of the restructuring programme involves privatizing the plant at Mitrena through purchase by a private company. Since the present operator on the site, by concession, is Solisnor, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lisnave, the Portuguese Government has decided to opt for a sale by private contract under Article 6 of Portuguese Law No 11/90 on the programme for the privatization of companies nationalized since 25 April 1974.Application of this law was approved by the Commission in July 1993, with the proviso that if the Portuguese Government made use of the procedure for sale by private contract it had to notify the Commission in advance of the conditions of sale, in accordance with Article 93(3) of the EC Treaty.In compliance with this decision, the Portuguese Government notified the Commission of the conditions for the sale of the Margueira plant to Lisnave. Bilateral contacts have already taken place between the Commission and the Portuguese Government, and further contacts will be required to clear up certain points. The Mello Group is not involved in these bilateral meetings.