WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1301/98 by Corrado AUGIAS to the Commission. Application of Article 93 of the Treaty
Date: 1998-04-29
Institutions: AUGIAS, European Parliament
Subjects: State aid, administrative transparency, aid to undertakings, application of EU law, control of State aid, redemption, restriction on competition, single market, terms for aid, use of aid













EUR-Lex - 91998E1301 - EN






Avis juridique important




|



91998E1301

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1301/98 by Corrado AUGIAS to the Commission. Application of Article 93 of the Treaty  


Official Journal C 050 , 22/02/1999 P. 0024 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1301/98by Corrado Augias (PSE) to the Commission(29 April 1998)Subject: Application of Article 93 of the TreatyDoes the Commission consider that the powers referred to in Article 93 of the EC Treaty with regard to ascertaining the compatibility of State aid with the common market are to be confined to examining the national laws regulating aid?Or does it consider that these powers also extend to assessing the effects produced by such aid?In the latter case and without prejudice to compliance with national laws, does the Commission consider that it is entitled to intervene to make Community law applicable to any counterproductive effects resulting from the application of aid?Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission(16 June 1998)Article 93 of the EC Treaty obliges the Commission to supervise the state aid policy and practice of Member States. The Commission must give its approval prior to the implementation of aid measures by Member States. This duty, by its very nature, cannot be limited to the examination of national regulations governing state aids. The Commission has to examine any kind of direct or indirect aid for enterprises from state resources, regardless of whether it is subject to a national regulation or not. Furthermore the Commission needs to be sure that any approved state aid regime is applied properly.Consequently, and as the Honourable Member suggests, Article 93 and Article 92 of the EC Treaty require the Commission to carefully examine the actual or possible effects of the state aid measure under consideration. The lawfulness of aids, indeed, depends on their effects on competition and the trade between Member States and on whether the aid can be approved because of its contribution to objectives of the Community.This duty of the Commission would be useless without a power to intervene. Article 93 of the EC Treaty therefore enables the Commission to authorize an aid measure compatible with the EC Treaty or to attach conditions to its authorization, in order to make it compatible. In these cases the Commission retains the right to monitor the aid schemes and to suggest changes for the future if the system no longer appears compatible with the EC Treaty. The Commission also could declare an aid scheme as not compatible with the common market.The Commission can prohibit the payment of notified aid that would be in violation of the EC Treaty. It also can request the Member State - in order to restore undistorted competition - to recover authorized aid that has been misused or been authorized on the basis of incorrect information. The Commission finally can demand the recovery of subsidies paid without Commission prior authorization and which produce, or threaten to produce, effects incompatible with the common market.For more transparency and efficiency of these procedures the Commission this year proposed a regulation on the procedure for applying Article 93 of the EC Treaty(1).(1) OJ C 116, 16.4.1998.