WRITTEN QUESTION E-2475/02 by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission. Law on aid and tenders in view of the devastating floods.
Date: 2002-09-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU law, State aid, flood, invitation to tender, natural disaster, public contract

C 92 E/174

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.4.2003

(2003/C 92 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2475/02

by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission

(6 September 2002)

Subject: Law on aid and tenders in view of the devastating floods

In recent weeks, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic have all been hit by unprecedented flooding.

Thousands of people have seen their homes wrecked and their livelihoods destroyed.

The damage caused by the floods runs into several billion euros.

In the face of this disaster, can the Commission answer the following questions:

1.

In view of the current situation, to what extent will the Commission show flexibility with regard to
the derogations provided for from Community legislation on aid and tenders in order to cushion the
financial impact on the Member States affected?

2. Where does it see specific margins for manoeuvre in this respect?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(17 October 2002)

As regards state aid, the EC Treaty contains a specific provision, Article 87(2)(b), which provides that aid to
make good the damage caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences shall be compatible with the
common market. No special provision or amendments are thus required to deal with this kind of
situations. In the past, the Commission has accepted that for example, floods could be considered natural
disasters. The Commission will follow the same approach in the present case. Once it has been established
that there has been a natural disaster, up to 100 % of the material damage caused by the natural disaster
can be compensated for. Obviously, the Commission will endeavour to have a very prompt decision.

Concerning agriculture and rural development, reference is made to the answer given by the Commission
to the Honourable Member’s written question P-2539/02 (1).

In reference to public procurement, the procedure can be speeded up and in cases where Member States
can demonstrate exceptional circumstances, it will be possible to derogate from the requirement to publish
a contract notice in conformity with Community law on public procurement: in concrete terms, Member
States can decide either to organise a so-called ‘accelerated procedure’, i.e. the publication of the tender in
the Official Journal of the European Communities including reduced deadlines for replies, or to carry out a
negotiated procedure without prior publication of a tender notice in those cases where conditions for such
a procedure are fulfilled (i.e. the existence of an unforeseeable event, of an extreme urgency incompatible
with the deadlines required by other procedures (cid:1) including the accelerated one (cid:1) and of a causal link
between the unforeseeable event and the resulting extreme urgency).

(1) See page 183.

(2003/C 92 E/230)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2484/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(6 September 2002)

Subject: Imports of tuna caught with driftnets

Representatives of the small-scale fishing fleet in Andalusia (Spain) have reported that Moroccan vessels are
capturing tuna and other species in Mediterranean and Atlantic waters using driftnets, which are banned in
the Community, and are then exporting the fish to the EC.