WRITTEN QUESTION E-0078/02 by Ulrich Stockmann (PSE) to the Commission. Possible closure of the Ammendorf/Halle (Saale) railway carriage factory.
Date: 2002-01-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Germany, State aid, aid to undertakings, company in difficulties, industrial manufacturing, vehicle on rails

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/139

Finally, the Commission recalls that Article 203 of the EC Treaty states that the Council shall consist of a
representative of each Member State at ministerial level, authorised to commit the Government of that
Member State. Subject to this provision, it is for each Member State to decide on its representation at
Council meetings, which differs from one Member State to another and on which the Community can not
intervene.

(1) OJ C 287, 12.10.2001.

(2002/C 172 E/143)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0078/02

by Ulrich Stockmann (PSE) to the Commission

(25 January 2002)

Subject: Possible closure of the Ammendorf/Halle (Saale) railway carriage factory

On 12 November 2001 the Canadian rail vehicle manufacturer Bombardier announced the closure of the
Ammendorf railway carriage factory in Halle (Saale) in Saxon-Anhalt, threatening the loss of almost 1000
jobs.

The background is that after German reunification the successor to ‘Treuhand’, BVS, after various
unsuccessful attempts at privatisation, sold ‘Deutsche Waggonbau AG’ which included the Ammendorf
works, to a US investment company, which two years later sold Deutsche Waggonbau AG to the Canadian
rail vehicle company Bombardier.

Was any state aid approved for the Ammendorf works, and if so, how much?

Did the Ammendorf works receive financial support from European (aid) programmes, and if so, how
much?

If the works are closed down, do any subsidies have to be repaid?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(22 February 2002)

On the basis of information presently available, the Commission can not determine whether state aid has
been awarded to the Ammendorf railway carriage factory in Halle (Saale) in Saxon-Anhalt. It can, however,
not be excluded that state aid has been awarded under the special Treuhand aid schemes in the context of
the privatisation process of companies in the New Bundesländer or under regional aid schemes approved
by the Commission. If aid to the company was granted in accordance with the criteria laid down in the
Commission’s decisions to approve these schemes, no individual notification for aid measures to the
Ammendorf works was required.

State aid awarded outside the scope of approved aid schemes has to be notified individually by the
Member State to the Commission as ad-hoc aid. In the New Länder ad-hoc aid measures frequently had the
form of rescue and restructuring aid for companies in difficulty. The German authorities have never
notified such measures for the Ammendorf works.

As the Commission is not aware whether any aid has been granted to the company and under which
conditions, it cannot comment on the question whether any subsidies have to be repaid if the works are to
be closed down.

In the light of the questions submitted the Commission has requested, in accordance with the EC Treaty
provisions on state aid, the German authorities to provide full information on financial support, including
support from European programmes, awarded to this company. This information should enable the
Commission to determine whether Community rules have been fully observed.