WRITTEN QUESTION No. 108/98 by Honório NOVO to the Commission. Closure of an enterprise in Castelo Branco (Portugal) with the possible motive of relocation
Date: 1998-01-30
Institutions: European Parliament, NOVO
Subjects: EU programme, Portugal, aid to industry, cessation of trading, footwear industry, subsidiary, transfer of businesses

C 223/114

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

17. 7. 98

For  the  same  reasons  the  Council  adopted  a  Resolution  on  the  matter  of  tobacco  smoke  in  public  places  in
1989 (1) which was subject of a Commission report in 1996 (2) setting out the measures taken by Member States
to give it effect.

Furthermore within the framework of Community legislation concerned with the protection of workers, specific
measures regarding smoking at the workplace are already in effect (for example work with asbestos, the dangers
of smoking to pregnant women) and the Commission is examining how these rules could be reinforced especially
to protect all workers at their place of employment from suffering the effects of passive smoking.

The use of the term (cid:145)classification(cid:146) in the context of these activities is perhaps not the most appropriate. What is
important is the recognition that tobacco smoke, or a component of the smoke, can cause cancer or other diseases
and that measures should be taken which effectively deal with the issue.

This is why the Commission communication on smoking prevention (3) sets out practical measures to limit the
effects of passive smoking. These measures are considered to have the best potential for effective impact on the
public so that people realise the dangers both in their daily life and at their place of work.

(1)  OJ C 189, 26.7.1989.
(2)  COM(96) 573 final.
(3)  COM(96) 609 final.

(98/C 223/145)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0108/98

by Hono·rio Novo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(30 January 1998)

Subject: Closure of an enterprise in Castelo Branco (Portugal) with the possible motive of relocation

The  transnational  footwear  enterprise  Trenogarine,  based  in  Italy,  has  an  industrial  unit  in  Castelo  Branco
(Portugal), known locally as Ducalbi.

The enterprise Trenogarine/Ducalbi has not paid its workers since November 1997, and production has been at a
standstill since 4 December 1997 due to lack of raw materials.

There are clear and substantiated indications that the management of this Italian transnational intends to close
down the unit and relocate it away from Castelo Branco, possibly to a third country.

Can  the  Commission  state  whether  the  establishment  of  the  Trenogarine/Ducalbi  industrial  unit  in  Castelo
Branco received any support from Community funds (from the PEDIP or any other source), and, if so, whether or
not  the  company  fulfilled  all  of  the  contractual  obligations  arising  therefrom,  especially  with  respect  to  job
preservation and creation and the continuity of labour in the factory.

Can  the  Commission  also  state  how  it  will  react  should  the  management  of  Trenogarine/Ducalbi  act  on  its
presumed intention to relocate this industrial unit away from Castelo Branco to a third country?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(16 March 1998)

According  to  the  information  available  to  the  Commission  and  confirmed  by  the  Portuguese  authorities,  the
enterprise  Trenogarine,  also  known  as  Ducalbi,  did  not  benefit  from  any  support  in  the  framework  of  the
programmes PEDIP I and PEDIP II.

The enterprise did introduce a project to the aid scheme Sistema de incentivos a base regional (SIBR) in the first
Community support framework but it was not accepted.

The  Commission  does  not  intend  to  comment  on  the  hypothetical  transfer  of  an  industrial  unit  to  another
location.