WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1822/97 by Jesús CABEZÓN ALONSO to the Commission. Activities of publicly-owned Spanish shipyards
Date: 1997-05-28
Institutions: CABEZON ALONSO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU aid, Spain, building subsidy, cessation of trading, derogation from EU law, industrial restructuring, public sector, restriction on competition, shipbuilding

C 45/108

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

10. 2. 98

(98/C 45/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1822/97

by Jesu·s Cabezo·n Alonso (PSE) to the Commission

(28 May 1997)

Subject: Activities of publicly-owned Spanish shipyards

The Commission has informed the Spanish Government of its decision to extend the procedure concerning the
aid granted to publicly-owned shipyards (1).

Pending  further  information  from  the  Spanish  authorities,  the  Commission  appears  to  accept  that  Astander
(Astilleros  de  Santander)  should  cease  building  new  vessels  and  should  maintain  its  activities  of  (cid:145)repair  and
conversions(cid:146).

What arguments has the Spanish Government put forward which would make it possible to prevent Astander
from continuing to carry out (cid:145)conversions(cid:146)?

Has the Commission taken any firm decision in this connection?

(1)  OJ C 53, 22.2.1997, p. 3.

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1820/97 and E-1822/97
given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission

(20 June 1997)

First, to avoid any possible misunderstandings, it should be explained that in deciding to extend the procedure
under Article 93.2 EC Treaty, the Commission was concerned about the adequacy of the capacity reductions in
the beneficiary public yards as the necessary counterpart for the very substantial amounts of aid proposed, a large
part  of  which  was  incompatible  with  the  normal  shipbuilding  aid  rules.  It  was  within  this  context  that  the
Commission  had  expressed  doubts  whether  the  proposals  for  Astander  could  be  considered  a  sufficient  and
genuine capacity reduction, particularly since the yard had ceased new building in 1990 and would remain open
to  conversions  whereas  normally  conversions  and  newbuildings  are  treated  together  for  the  purposes  of  the
shipbuilding aid directive (both activities being eligible for contract-related production aid, unlike ship repair).

However, as the Honourable Member is probably aware, the procedure was subsequently overtaken when the
Spanish  government  presented  revised  proposals  to  address  the  Commission(cid:146)s  concerns  (shared  by  many
Member  States)  that  the  possible  distortions  to  competition  should  be  minimised.  Under  the  revised  plan,  in
addition to the cessation of newbuilding at Astander, a series of other measures (involving closure of installations
but not total closure of yards) will be taken with immediate effect to achieve an overall capacity reduction in the
public  yards  of  30,000  compensated  gross  registered  tonnes  (cgrt).  This  will  be  supplemented  by  the
non-reopening  to  shipbuilding  of  the  public  yard  at  Astano  and  by  further  capacity  reductions  in  the  private
sector amounting to 17,500 cgrt. The Spanish government has also agreed that Astander will not carry out ship
conversions as long as it remains in public ownership. Questions about the thinking behind the revised plan are a
matter for the Spanish authorities.

On  this  basis  the  Industry  Council,  at  its  meeting  on  24  April  1997,  agreed  that  Spain  could  be  granted  a
derogation from the rules of the shipbuilding aid directive. This derogation was formally adopted as a Council
Regulation on 2 June 1997 (1) leaving the way clear for the Commission to close the procedure and approve the
aid. A final Commission decision is expected shortly.

(1)  OJ L 148, 6.6.1997.