WRITTEN QUESTION No. 141/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Community 'Pesca' initiative for Greece
Date: 1998-02-02
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: EU financing, Greece, coordination of financing, fisheries policy, private investment, public investment, regional aid, technical cooperation

22. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 196/119

Through  the  adoption  of  the  third  liberalization  package  for  civil  aviation  the  Commission  created  the  legal
framework in which the air carriers can set their tariffs freely in accordance with their commercial policy. The
Commission has no competence to impose tariffs on undertakings. The Commission would however consider
taking action in case of infringement of the competition rules of Article 85 of the EC Treaty › for example by air
carriers fixing common prices › and Article 86 of the EC Treaty › for example by air carriers abusing their
dominant position by hindering a competitor to enter a specific route by charging excessively low fares. The fact
that at present only one air carrier operates on this route does not, in itself, constitute an infringement of the
competition rules. The non-availability of economy air fares on the route mentioned by the Honourable Member
is not limited to Parliament plenary weeks. Reduced fares are available all year round provided travellers stay
over the weekend. This is not in itself a violation of the competition rules.

The Commission is however not limited to taking action under the competition rules. Under Council Regulation
(EEC) No 2409/92 of 23 July 1992 on fares and rates for air services (1) Member States may require airlines to
file scheduled fares with the Member States. Should a fare be excessively high to the disadvantage of users in
relation  to  the  overall  long-term  fully  allocated  costs  of  the  carrier,  then  the  Member  States  concerned  may
intervene against the fare and suspend the application of the basic fare. Also the Commission may at any time
examine whether a fare complies with the criteria set out under this Regulation on receipt of a complaint from
any party with a legitimate interest.

(1)  OJ L 240, 24.8.1992.

(98/C 196/166)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0141/98

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(2 February 1998)

Subject: Community (cid:145)Pesca(cid:146) initiative for Greece

The  Community  (cid:145)Pesca(cid:146)  initiative  for  Greece  comprises  four  Sub-Programmes  and  a  fifth  for  technical
assistance. As there is a timetable for each of sub-programmes 1 to 4, will the Commission say:

1.  what  progress  has  been  made  with  the  sub-programmes  and  what  measures  have  been  taken  in  each

sub-programme, and

2.  whether there have been any delays in taking up funds and, if so, what the main reasons for the delays are?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission

(13 March 1998)

1.
Administrative  arrangements  in  Greece  for  the  four  main  parts  of  the  PESCA  programme  are  now
complete. The authorities state that for private investments applications must reach the local fisheries department
by 31 March and that the national commitment decisions will be taken before the end of June. The commitment
decisions for public investments are in preparation. Once these procedures are completed the programme can
actually be implemented.

2.
The  delay  in  starting  the  programme  can  be  imputed  largely  to  lack  of  the  necessary  coordination  for
implementation of a multifund programme requiring the involvement of several public departments. As a result
none of the available appropriations has so far been used. The administrative arrangements now made mean that
the first payments to recipients under the programme should be made in the second half of this year.