WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2240/97 by Richard HOWITT to the Commission. Single Market in the repair and maintenance of aircraft
Date: 1997-07-02
Institutions: European Parliament, HOWITT
Subjects: EU statistics, State aid, aid system, aircraft, free competition, maintenance, single market

11. 3. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 76/81

The  setting  up  of  reception  centres  for  asylum  seekers  and  displaced  people  in  Greece  may,  under  certain
conditions, be eligible for Community cofinancing. It should be clearly framed as a pilot project, including a
proper  evaluation  mechanism.  Particular  attention  will  be  given  to  the  establishment  of  new  reception
infrastructures to meet the immediate needs of displaced people in situations of mass influx. Furthermore, the
establishment of such a reception centre should be intended to implement the instruments adopted by the Council
in the fields of asylum procedures and unaccompanied minors (1).

(1)  Council  Resolution  of  20  June  1995  (OJ  C  274,  19.9.1996);  Council  Resolution  of  26  June  1997  on  unaccompanied  minors  who  are

nationals of third countries (OJ C 221, 19.7.1997).

(98/C 76/170)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2240/97

by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission

(2 July 1997)

Subject: Single Market in the repair and maintenance of aircraft

Following representations from aircraft maintenance companies based at Southend Airport in my constituency,
what  specific  statistics  does  the  Commission  hold  by  Member  State  of  state  subsidy  given  to  the  repair  and
maintenance of aircraft, rather than to the aviation sector in general?

Does the Commission plan to undertake further assessments in this respect?

Will the Commission bring forward further proposals to ensure free competition in the repair and maintenance of
aircraft, and at what date does the Commission expect a full Single Market in this sector to be in operation?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 1997)

The Commission does not possess any specific statistics about the aid which Member States award to the aircraft
maintenance  industry.  The  production  of  such  statistics  would  be  extremely  difficult  since  the  aircraft
maintenance industry does not belong to the so-called sensitive sectors for which there are specific frameworks
on  state  aid  by  which  the  Member  States  are  obliged  to  notify  any  aid  individually  to  the  Commission.
Consequently, Member States may award aid to the aircraft maintenance industry on the basis of aid schemes
which were previously approved by the Commission without being obliged to notify any aid individually if this
aid follows the lines of the approved scheme. As a further consequence, the Commission is, in these cases, not
informed about individual cases and may not produce statistics about aid to those sectors.

Nevertheless, although the aircraft maintenance industry is not regarded as being a sensitive sector in the above
mentioned sense, the Commission has sufficient instruments in order to ensure competition within this sector in
the single market. Thus, the different horizontal frameworks and guidelines, such as for example the research and
development (R&D) framework or the Community guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring of firms
in  difficulties,  which  were  prepared  by  the  Commission  and  which  apply  to  all  industrial  sectors  allow  the
Commission  to  control  effectively  state  subsidies  to  the  aircraft  maintenance  industry  and  to  avoid  undue
distortions of competition. In this context and as an example, the Commission would stress that, by applying the
Community guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring of firms in difficulties, it only recently closed
its  proceedings  under  Article  93(2)  of  the  EC  Treaty  against  aid  which  was  awarded  by  the  German  Land
Niedersachsen to ASL Lemwerder, an enterprise specialising in aircraft maintenance.