WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1931/98 by Carlos PIMENTA to the Commission. ECSC aid for the Portuguese steel industry
Date: 1998-06-18
Institutions: European Parliament, PIMENTA
Subjects: ECSC aid, Portugal, bilateral agreement, early retirement, indemnification, iron and steel industry, suspension of aid













EUR-Lex - 91998E1931 - EN






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91998E1931

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1931/98 by Carlos PIMENTA to the Commission. ECSC aid for the Portuguese steel industry  


Official Journal C 050 , 22/02/1999 P. 0118 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1931/98by Carlos Pimenta (PPE) to the Commission(18 June 1998)Subject: ECSC aid for the Portuguese steel industryThe steel company Siderurgia Nacional - Empresa de Produtos Longos (company specializing in long products), currently a consortium between the Portuguese State and Megasa, which is of Spanish origin, reports that the ECSC has stopped its aid and funding with regard to appropriations for payments to workers taking early retirement on reaching 55 years of age, in accordance with the agreement reached between the ECSC and the Portuguese State with regard to the national steel sector (Siderurgia Nacional - Empresa de Planos Longos (long products), Siderurgia Nacional - Empresa de Serviços (services) and Lusosider - Aços Planos (flat products)).Is that report correct?Is it true that the ECSC has cancelled its support, contrary to the agreement reached with the Portuguese State on this sector?If so, what will the situation be for those workers who have taken early retirement since September 1997?Why does the "suspension" of aid apply only to workers in the Empresa de Produtos Longos?Is it true that the reason for the "suspension" is that the funds earmarked for early retirement have been improperly used for allowances for workers recently put under some pressure to cancel their contracts by "mutual agreement"?Has the Portuguese government been informed of the suspension of the conditions relating to the ECSC agreement?Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission(22 July 1998)In accordance with the rules laid down in the bilateral conventions with the Member States, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) continues to cofinance readaptation aid under Article 56 of the ECSC Treaty and the Bilateral Convention of 13 July 1989 for steelworkers and mineworkers who lose their jobs and who for this reason take early retirement or are made redundant, or must change workplace, either within the company or by moving to another company.With the exception of aid for training and employment which the Commission decided to suspend from 1 January 1995, none of the measures laid down in the bilateral conventions for workers who find themselves in one of the situations described here have been abolished. In the steel sector, however, for each steelworks the total number of beneficiaries (early retirement, redundancy and external redeployment) is limited to the number of job losses at the works concerned.Within this framework, the ECSC was able to grant the amount laid down in the bilateral convention with Portugal in 1997 to 19 SN Longos workers having to take early retirement and 103 workers having to be made redundant, in accordance with the application made by the Portuguese government that year.The Commission has no information which suggests that the aid granted which is intended for early retirement has been used for other purposes.