WRITTEN QUESTION No. 6/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Repayment of subsidies for investment in Portugal
Date: 1998-01-29
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: Alentejo, EU aid, State aid, agro-industry, bankruptcy, fruit, investment aid, production aid, redemption, vegetable

C 323/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-4213/97 and E-4214/97
given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(6 April 1998)

As  indicated  in  the  joint  reply  to  the  Honourable  Member(cid:146)s  Written  Questions  E-4208/97  to  4211/97 (1),  the
Commission  drew  the  necessary  conclusions  from  the  Elida  Gibbs  judgment  of  24 October  1996  (Case
C-317/94),  writing  to  all  the  Member  States  and  deciding  to  initiate  or  continue  several  proceedings  under
Article 169 of the Treaty, including against the Member States referred to by the Honourable Member.

The Commission would point out that, under the Treaty, the Court of Justice is competent to interpret existing
Community law and that it is not for the Commission, much less its officials, to ignore its judgments. However,
in so far as some Member States, as in the case in point, have difficulty in applying a judgment, the Commission
cannot prevent such difficulties being raised in ad hoc committees. This is how this matter came to be discussed
in the VAT Committee.

At this point in time, no proposal on the subject mentioned by the Honourable Member is being prepared by the
Commission. It goes without saying that, if an initiative were to be taken, those involved in business would be
consulted as always, principally by means of the respective opinions of Parliament and the Economic and Social
Committee and through regular contacts with those business interests.

(1)  OJ C 223, 17.7.1998, p. 72.

(98/C 323/24)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0006/98

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 January 1998)

Subject: Repayment of subsidies for investment in Portugal

The Portuguese press reports that the Cap Verde company received large amounts of subsidies from Portugal and
the EU for investment in fruit and vegetable growing in the Alentejo region of Portugal.

(cid:145)Odefruta(cid:146), a company set up in Odemira to implement the EU-funded investment programme, went bankrupt in
1993, leaving behind huge debts and unpaid producers and having caused considerable environmental damage.

As it is Community practice to stipulate that any enterprise in receipt of EU funding must return the subsidies it
has received in the event of going out of business, will the Commission say:

1.  whether there has been a Community investigation into Odefruta and what its findings are,

2.  whether corresponding national or Community stipulations were made in Odefruta(cid:146)s case,

3.  whether proceedings have been initiated to recover the subsidies paid to Odefruta, and

4.  what measures it has taken to avoid subsidizing companies in future without adequately satisfying itself of

the viability of the enterprise and the sound management of the subsidies?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(27 February 1998)

By decision of 21 November 1991 the Commission approved the operational programme to develop the Mira
basin  (Alentejo,  Portugal),  where  the  Odefruta  company  project  referred  to  by  the  Honourable  Member  is
located.