WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1642/98 by Christoph KONRAD to the Commission. Compliance with the conditions imposed by the Commission concerning the granting of aid in the steel sector
Date: 1998-05-29
Institutions: European Parliament, KONRAD
Subjects: Italy, State aid, administrative transparency, aid to industry, cessation of trading, control of State aid, iron and steel industry, terms for aid

C 50/62

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.2.1999

The Commission has no legal means to prevent the RAI from broadcasting encrypted programmes abroad. This is
a contractual matter between the broadcaster and the holders of the rights.

(1999/C 50/088)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1642/98

by Christoph Konrad (PPE) to the Commission

(29 May 1998)

Subject: Compliance with the conditions imposed by the Commission concerning the granting of aid in the steel

sector

1.
On 19 October 1994 the Commission adopted a decision on Law No 481 of 3 August 1994, through which
the Italian Government sought to speed up the restructuring of the steel sector. The Commission set out a series of
conditions under which aid may be granted. State aid was subsequently granted in 30 cases. Did the Commission
monitor compliance with the conditions (reduction in capacity, etc.)?

In some cases, Italian undertakings have been refused aid under Law No 481. What instruments are
2.
available to the Commission in order to verify that the undertakings concerned have not received aid by other
means?

Does the Commission consider it appropriate that the public be informed whether and in what way the
3.
Member States have complied with the withholding of assent or with conditions attached to the Commission(cid:146)s
approval of aid? Does the Commission take the view that more transparency would improve discipline as regards
state aid in the EU?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission

(1 July 1998)

In connection with the application of Law No 481 of 3 August 1994 concerning plant closures in the private steel
industry in Italy, the Commission received notification of 44 state aid cases pursuant to Article 4 of the former
Steel Aid Code.

When the aforementioned Italian law was authorised, after verifying compliance with the Steel Aid Code, in
particular with Article 4, the Commission required the Italian authorities to give it prior notification of individual
cases of application of the law. The Commission decision stipulated that, in order to qualify for closure aid, firms
must have been in production on average for at least one shift per day, i.e. at least eight hours per day, five days
per week, for the whole of 1993 and up to February 1994, when Decree-Law No 103 was notified to the
Commission.

The Commission authorised 34 cases, resulting in capacity reductions in excess of five million tonnes in hot-
rolled products, and refused to grant authorisation in 10 other cases because the information available to it
showed that, although the firms in question met the other conditions laid down in the Steel Aid Code, they had not
been in regular production when they were closed.

The Italian authorities keep the Commission systematically informed of the closure process, which has resulted in
the scrapping of all the steel production plants of the aid recipients. The information available to the Commission
shows that the Italian firms which were refused aid have not received aid by other means.

With regard to the last point raised by the Honourable Member, the Commission has made considerable efforts in
recent years to ensure that state aid administrative procedures are as transparent as possible in compliance with
Community law. Where infringements of the rules come to its attention, the Commission adopts decisions which
are published in full in the Official Journal and are usually accompanied by a press release.