WRITTEN QUESTION E-0548/01 by Mechtild Rothe (PSE) to the Commission. Competition and subsidies in the steel chimney construction sector.
Date: 2001-02-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: State aid, building industry, competition law, control of State aid

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/75

(2001/C 318 E/076)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0548/01

by Mechtild Rothe (PSE) to the Commission

(27 February 2001)

Subject: Competition and subsidies in the steel chimney construction sector

There appear to be considerable price differences in the steel chimney construction sector in the European
Union and the question arises as to whether these differences, which are in some cases as much as 30 %
result from the granting of subsidies in certain Member States.

1.

2.

Are government subsidies provided for steel chimney construction in certain EU Member States?

Is the EU actively promoting this sector? If so, under what programmes?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(1 June 2001)

The question regarding price differentials in the steel chimney construction sector relates to the

1.
competitive situation in the sector.

The Commission has the responsibility of monitoring compliance with the European competition rules by
the Member States. If price differentials in a particular sector are attributable to subsidies, we refer to the
individual competition provisions when assessing compatibility with the common market.

Basically, there are no specific rules for vetting state aid in the steel chimney construction sector. To that
extent, where state assistance for this sector is concerned, the rules on the assessment for approval of state
aid with horizontal objectives or the general rules on the assessment for approval of regional aid are
applicable.

If a firm is located in a region eligible for regional aid, it may apply for such aid under the aid rules for
that region.

The arrangements for applying the general rules on regional aid and those for applying the rules on state
aid with horizontal objectives apply equally to all firms in the Member States.

2.

The Commission is not aware of any subsidy programmes for the steel chimney construction sector.

(2001/C 318 E/077)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0574/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 February 2001)

Subject: Greece(cid:146)s failure to comply with the Court of Justice(cid:146)s decision on used cars

In Greece, the provisions of Law 2682/99 abolished the special consumer tax and the flat-rate added
special duty on motor vehicles, which had been imposed on passenger cars, and instituted a single duty
described as a (cid:145)special registration duty(cid:146). The coefficients of this duty vary according to the car(cid:146)s cylinder
capacity and its anti-pollution technology, with new and used cars being treated in the same way.

In other words, Greece does not tax used cars on the basis of the value of an equivalent new car, but
continues to impose unreasonably high taxes, which for non-catalytic cars range from 80 % to 400 % of
the car(cid:146)s value and for catalytic cars from 15 % to 128 %. This violates the principles and the operative part
of the Court of Justice(cid:146)s judgment of 23 October 1997 in Case C-375/95, in which Greece was condemned
for discriminatory customs treatment of used cars from the EEC.