WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1518/98 by Thierry JEAN-PIERRE to the Commission. Purchase of D3 - Loan
Date: 1998-05-13
Institutions: European Parliament, JEAN-PIERRE
Subjects: Belgium, European Parliament, award of contract, borrowing, invitation to tender, real property, single market

C 13/40

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.1.1999

2.
Although the Commission is not opposed to the privatisation of Central del Latte di Roma, it has opened the
procedure provided in Article 93 (2) of the EC Treaty because of doubts about the existence and the compatibility
with the Treaty of certain aids that appear to have been granted in the framework of the privatisation process.

(1999/C 13/056)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1518/98

by Thierry Jean-Pierre (PPE) to the Commission

(13 May 1998)

Subject: Purchase of D3 › Loan

Some months ago, the Commission reminded Belgium of its obligations in connection with the construction of
the Flemish Parliament, undertaken despite the failure to comply with the Community directives applicable to
public contracts.

Does the Commission intend to be equally stringent in defending Community law with respect to the European
Parliament, which has approached SociØtØ Espace LØopold (SEL) › a legal shell safeguarding the interests of
Belgian and French banks › and commissioned it to take out a loan of ECU 525 million and BF 7 billion on the
European Parliament(cid:146)s behalf, to enable the latter to purchase the D3 building complex from SEL itself, although
no notice of invitation to tender has been published in the OJEC?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 1998)

The directives on public procurement (1) apply to contracting entities which are defined as (cid:145)the State, regional or
local authorities, bodies governed by public law, associations formed by one or several of such authorities or
bodies governed by public law(cid:146). The European institutions, as follows from this definition, are not considered to
be contracting entities under these directives.

However, the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1997 (2) provides that every European institution meets the
same obligations as those falling upon the contracting authorities of the Member States on the basis of the public
procurement directives. Thus, the European institutions apply the rules of these directives, which are completed
by a set of additional rules. For instance, contracts to rent houses and offices (subject not covered by the public
procurement directives) and a whole range of contracts the value of which does not exceed the threshold of the
public procurement directives, are awarded by special procedures preceded by calls for competitions. Notices are
published in the supplement to the Official journal.

It is of course up to each institution to take its own decisions in these matters.

(1) Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts; OJ L 209,
24.7.1992. Council Directive 93/36/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts; OJ L 199,
9.8.1993.

(2) Article 56 of the Financial Regulation of 21.12.1977, OJ L 356, 31.12.1977. Modified for the last time by Regulation No 2335/95 of

18.9.1995, OJ L 240, 7.10.1995.

(1999/C 13/057)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1520/98

by Mar(cid:237)a Sornosa Mart(cid:237)nez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Ecological disaster in Doæana

(7 May 1998)

In the early hours of Saturday, 25 April a dam burst in the Aznalc(cid:243)llar mine in the province of Seville, releasing
more than 5 billion litres of water polluted with highly toxic mineral residues into the Guadamar river, flooding a
large area of cultivated land and eventually reaching Doæana national park. What are the Commission(cid:146)s views on
this ecological catastrophe? Has it already adopted any measures to tackle this disaster? Is the Commission in
contact with the Spanish authorities on this subject? Does the Commission consider it desirable to visit the area in