WRITTEN QUESTION E-2669/99 by Benedetto Della Vedova (TDI) to the Commission. State aid to Philipp Holzmann AG.
Date: 2000-01-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Germany, company in difficulties, control of State aid, infringement of EU law, public works

3.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 280 E/99

of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision
of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (3) (as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 July 1998 (4)).

(1) OJ L 298, 17.10.1989.
(2) OJ L 202, 30.7.1997.
(3) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.
(4) OJ L 217, 5.8.1998.

(2000/C 280 E/101)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2669/99

by Benedetto Della Vedova (TDI) to the Commission

Subject: State aid to Philipp Holzmann AG

(12 January 2000)

It has been announced that
restructuring of Philipp Holzmann AG, the construction group.

the German Government

is to take various measures to facilitate the

The Commission(cid:146)s recent notice on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in
the form of guarantees clarifies the circumstances in which State guarantees fall under the heading of State
aid and how far they are compatible with Article 87 of the EC Treaty.

The provisions announced,
loans amounting to DEM 150 million and guarantees of a further
DEM 100 million, constitute State aid (specifically, aid for rescuing and restructuring, as defined in the
Community guidelines published in OJ C 368, 23.12.1994) falling within the scope of Articles 87 and 88
of the EC Treaty.

In view of the above, does the Commission not consider that these measures taken by the German
Government constitute a serious distortion of competition within the Community and breach the
provisions on State aid in Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty?

In the light of the statements by the Commissioner responsible for competition and the Governor of the
European Central Bank on the (cid:145)coincidence(cid:146) of measures and proposals for State interference in the markets
and the euro(cid:146)s weakness, does the Commission intend to take steps to reduce the number of possible
exceptions to the prohibition on State aid contained in Article 87 of the EC Treaty? In particular, does the
Commission not think it advisable to take action to modify,
if not tighten up, the above-mentioned
(cid:145)Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty(cid:146), which are
characterised by an excessively general and broad approval system?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(9 February 2000)

Whether or not the measures of the German government constitute a serious distortion of competition has
to be assessed on the basis of a detailed analysis taking into account the criteria of the Guidelines on state
aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (1). These guidelines which came into force on
9 October 1999 amended the previous guidelines from 1994 and have stricter criteria, for instance, with
respect to the avoidance of undue distortions of competition and the (cid:145)one time, last time(cid:146) principle.

After a preliminary examination of the notification the Commission found that the aid raised doubts as to
its compatibility with the common market. Therefore, on 18 January 2000 the Commission initiated
proceedings in order to launch an in-depth investigation of the aid measures.

(1) OJ C 288, 9.10.1999.