WRITTEN QUESTION E-1450/01 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Contract between the Greek Government and the company managing Athens airport.
Date: 2001-05-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, airport, charges for use of infrastructure, common transport policy, provision of services, restriction on competition, service concession, unfair terms of contract

C 40 E/44

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.2.2002

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(10 September 2001)

Following the Honourable Member(cid:146)s previous questions (P-776/98 (1), H-258/95 (2) and H-748/99 (3)) in
April 1999 the Commission requested the French authorities to provide information on the arrangements
adopted by the French Parliament in connection with the ownership of the French electricity transmission
network.

The information submitted by France on the said arrangements indicated that,
following a great
controversy in France over the nature of the concession granted to (cid:145)ElectricitØ de France(cid:146) (EDF) in 1958,
the French Parliament had decided in 1997 to clarify the ownership status of the high voltage transmission
network. In particular, pursuant to Article 3 of Law 97-1026 of 10 November 1997, EDF was allowed to
the assets concerning the transmission infrastructure from the item
reclassify in its balance sheet
(cid:145)Immobilisations corporelles du domaine concØdØ(cid:146) to the item (cid:145)Immobilisations corporelles du domaine
propre(cid:146).

According to the information submitted, EDF had been entrusted with the operation of that infrastructure
under a concession of 75 years included in its first (cid:145)Cahier de charges(cid:146) adopted by Decree No 56-1225 of
28 November 1956. However, the concession contract appeared to be imperfect in several respects. In
particular, the long-term concession arrangements did not specify the regime of ownership of the relevant
assets during and at the end of the concession. By contrast, the concession clearly established that EDF was
obliged to bear all the costs during the concession related to the maintenance, renewal, reinforcement and
extension of the relevant infrastructure. On account of these considerations, the French Parliament had
considered that the concession regime was that of (cid:145)biens propres(cid:146) and that, consequently, EDF had received
the ownership of the relevant assets (cid:145)ab initio(cid:146) at the moment of the concession.

It is to be noted that under the (cid:145)biens propres(cid:146) regime of concession, recognised by the French doctrine, the
relevant assets are not subjected to any right or condition providing for the return of the assets to the
grantor.

However, the Commission(cid:146)s attention has recently been drawn to the incoherence that may exist between
the consideration of the concession regime as that of (cid:145)biens propres(cid:146) and the accounting adjustments and
the fiscal provisions connected with the reclassification.

The Commission has asked the French authorities for information about this alleged incoherence and will
re-examine all the relevant arrangements as a whole. The Commission will inform the Honourable Member
of the results of its investigation as soon as it takes a position.

(1) OJ C 304, 2.10.1998.
(2) Written answer of 13.4.1999.
(3) Written answer of 14.12.1999.

(2002/C 40 E/040)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1450/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 May 2001)

Subject: Contract between the Greek Government and the company managing Athens airport

The airport development contract between the Greek Government and the companies building Athens
airport contains a clause which states that for twenty years after the opening of the airport, no new or
existing airport may be developed, improved or upgraded to a domestic service airport within a radius of
100 kilometres from Syntagma Square in Athens, with the aid of the Greek Government, unless the
charges and fees imposed at the domestic service airport are lower than the corresponding charges and
fees in force at Athens airport, and the domestic services operating from the airport are provided only by
aircraft of 45 tonnes or less maximum gross weight on takeoff.

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/45

1.

Can the Commission confirm that such a clause exists?

Should the Council adopt the amended proposal for a Council Directive on airport charges (1), will
2.
in that it imposes a system of charges
the above contractual obligation not be rendered unlawful
the regional airports located 100 kilometres from Athens? Will
irrespective of
Article 4(2) of the amended proposal for a directive on airport charges not be rendered redundant? Is the
restriction of 45 tonnes on the maximum gross weight of aircraft in service consistent with the amended
proposal?

the actual costs of

(1) COM(1998) 509.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(7 August 2001)

the clause mentioned in the written question submitted by the
The Commission can confirm that
Honourable Member is included in Article 3 on (cid:145)Grants of rights and exclusivity(cid:146) (paragraph 3.2.2. referring
to domestic traffic) of the Airport Development Agreement (ADA) signed between the Greek Government
and the company managing the new Athens International Airport.

As far as airport charges are concerned, in accordance with the general principles of Community law these
should be imposed in a transparent, neutral and non-discriminatory way. On the other hand, there are no
Community rules regulating the level of airport charges. ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation)
guidelines recommend that airport charges should be cost-related, and the Commission has been fully
supporting this principle since 1998, when it published its White Paper on a phased approach to a
common transport infrastructure charging framework in the Union (1). The proposed Directive on airport
charges (2) currently pending before the Council reflects these principles.

In the event the proposed amended Council Directive on airport charges (98/C/319/04) is adopted, it
would oblige the competent authorities to ensure that the level of airport charges collected is set in a
reasonable relation to the overall cost of the services and facilities which these charges are intended to
cover. This draft Directive does not contain specific rules in relation to the possibility of airports to restrict
operations of aircraft beyond a certain weight.

The Commission will assess the compatibility of the exclusivity clause with the draft Directive once it is
adopted.

(1) COM(98) 466 final.
(2) OJ C 319, 16.11.1998.

(2002/C 40 E/041)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1454/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 May 2001)

Subject: Missing children in Cyprus

Protests have been made on numerous occasions within the European Union(cid:146)s institutions and in other
international bodies about those persons who have been missing since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in
1974. Sporadic attempts have been made to resolve the problem, which ultimately meet with the refusal
of the Turkish Cypriot regime to cooperate despite some occasional minor progress. On 25 April 2001,
the matter was raised in the Council of Europe. Complaints were put before the Secretary-General of the
Council of Europe concerning 27 children between the ages of 4 months and 14 years who were abducted
by the Turkish occupation forces and, although some of those children are rumoured to be living in the
occupied territories, they are still missing.