WRITTEN QUESTION No. 298/98 by Leonie van BLADEL to the Council. Obstinate attitude of a Netherlands Junior Minister with regard to the solution to a conflict with Russian partners
Date: 1998-02-17
Institutions: European Parliament, VAN BLADEL
Subjects: EU aid, Netherlands, Russia, building subsidy, financial aid, fraud, supermarket, technical cooperation

C 196/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

aid  programme  was  unlawful.  Both  the  Netherlands  state  and  Koninklijke  Ahold  N.V.  refuse  to  settle  the
damages  in  a  correct  manner  and  are  forcing  the  Russian  partner  into  a  costly,  unnecessary  and  lengthy
procedure. Is the Council aware that the case, which is expected to last several years › whether or not there is a
positive or negative result for the plaintiffs, › will have an adverse effect on future aid programmes and the
mutual trust and stability  in  relations with  Eastern Europe. Does the Council not consider that there is gross
negligence on the part of Koninklijke Ahold N.V., when, despite the clear indication by the Amsterdam court that
Koninklijke Ahold N.V. is liable for damages, that company and the Netherlands state refuse to hold any proper
discussions with the injured party, in this case the Russian partner Tonar?

The  study  commissioned  by  the  EU  and  carried  out  by  Koninklijke  Ahold  N.V.,  shows  that  the
2.
establishment of a food wholesaler business, in this case a distribution centre, is the key priority. Koninklijke
Ahold made this conclusion a priority in its August 1992 report. Does the Council not find it strange that the
country  providing  assistance.  In  the  framework  of  the  TACIS  aid  programme,  in  this  case  the  Netherlands,
refuses  to  meet  the  key  wishes  of  the  country  receiving  assistance,  in  this  case  Russia,  and  also  that  the
agreements  made  between  the  Netherlands  and  Russia  have  consistently  not  been  fulfilled,  even  after  it  was
shown  that  the  Russians  had  fully  satisfied  all  conditions  set  by  the  European  Union  and  the  Netherlands
Ministry for Economic Affairs?

(98/C 196/43)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0298/98

by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council

(17 February 1998)

Subject: Obstinate attitude of a Netherlands Junior Minister with regard to the solution to a conflict with Russian

partners

1.
Is the Council aware that a summons has been taken out by the Russian Tonar Corporation, a semi-public
enterprise, before The Hague Crown Court against the State of the Netherlands and the Dutch multinational,
Koninklijke Ahold NV?

Does  not  the  Council  feel  that  the  totally  unsuccessful  TACIS  project,  undertaken  by  the  Ministry  for
2.
Economic Affairs and Koninklijke Ahold NV and subsidized by EU funds, should have been solved in a manner
more  elegant  than  one  involving  the  courts,  as  the  Netherlands  Junior  Minister  for  Economic  Affairs  is
proposing?

Can  the  Council  accept  the  notion  that  Russian  confidence  in  the  operation  of  the  free  market  and,
3.
indirectly, the security and stability which Europe is endeavouring to secure, are being undermined in particular
by the obstinate manner in which the Netherlands Junior Minister for Economic Affairs is refusing to bring the
parties together round a table, as proposed by the Dutch MPs Van Walsem, Leers and De Koning, in order to seek
a solution, all the more so since Ahold(cid:146)s conduct, like the conduct of the Netherlands Ministry for Economic
Affairs, is destroying the average Russian(cid:146)s confidence in initiatives from Western Europe, also in the light of the
previous ruling of the Amsterdam Court which, in an earlier judgment, ruled Koninklijke Ahold NV(cid:146)s conduct
unlawful?

On the basis of the foregoing, is the Council prepared to support the proposal that talks between the parties
4.
be organized with a view to restoring the average Russian(cid:146)s confidence in initiatives from Western Europe by
making  an  urgent  appeal  to  the  Netherlands  Junior  Minister  for  Economic  Affairs  to  abandon  her  obstinate
attitude?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3886/97, E-4158/97 and E-0298/98

(7 April 1998)

The TACIS programme provides technical assistance for economic reforms in Russia and, through the transfer of
(cid:145)know-how(cid:146), measures which will, inter alia, ensure the transition to a market economy.

With  the  collapse  of  the  USSR,  the  provision  of  food  supplies  to  Russia(cid:146)s  cities  posed  major  problems,
warranting a large-scale Community food aid operation. Structural requirements linked to transition to a market
economy in this area led the Community to make the production, processing and distribution of foodstuffs one of
the priorities for TACIS Programme intervention.