WRITTEN QUESTION E-3120/02 by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission. Federal Mogul planned closure.
Date: 2002-10-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, European Social Fund, United Kingdom, cessation of trading, employment aid, transfer of businesses

C 110 E/168

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.5.2003

The file received did not contain all the information required to demonstrate that the application for
registration satisfied the conditions laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 of 14 July 1992 on
the protection of geographical
indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and
foodstuffs (1), and particularly in Articles 2 and 4. The Commission has therefore asked on several
occasions for further information in order to be able to assess the validity of the application, inter alia as
regards the nature and composition of the applicant group, the identification of the products in question,
the marketing description used, and the link between product characteristics and conditions in the defined
geographical area, comprising natural and human factors.

Since the replies received have not been sufficient to dispel the doubts about certain aspects of the
application, the Scientific Committee has been asked to give an opinion.

The examination of the application for the name ‘Mejillones de Galicia’ to be registered has already been
the subject of several working meetings of the Scientific Committee, which has also asked for further
information. The Commission (cid:1) as the provider of the Scientific Committee’s secretariat (cid:1) is required to
facilitate the availability of any information requested by Committee members, whose independence must
also be guaranteed. Consequently, the Commission may not influence the Committee’s work or adopt any
measures designed to force its conclusions. The next meeting will take place in early January 2003.

(1) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992.

(2003/C 110 E/187)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3120/02

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(30 October 2002)

Subject: Federal Mogul planned closure

Is the Commission aware of the planned closure of the Federal Mogul plant in Bridgewater, United
Kingdom, with a loss of almost four hundred jobs? Can the Commission confirm whether Federal Mogul
operations in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium have received any assistance
in the last five years for job creation? If so, in view of the fact that jobs are being transferred from
Bridgewater to Poland and Turkey, does the Commission not feel that the funds should be repaid?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2002)

Further to the Honourable Member’s request for information on the planned closure of the ‘Federal Mogul’
plant in Bridgewater, the Commission contacted the South West England region who confirmed that
Federal Mogul did not receive any European Social Fund (ESF) assistance during the past five years.

For the Federal Mogul plants in the other Member States mentioned, the Commission would remind the
Honourable Member that it has the overall responsibility of ensuring that Community Funds are used in
accordance with the structural funds programs which it had adopted whereas the ESF managing authority,
in each Member State, decides on the application requests received for ESF co-funding. It is therefore not
possible to know, at Commission level, if this single enterprise has received Community funding under a
national or even a regional measure. The Commission will therefore have to contact national authorities
and ask them to lead their own inquiries. Any information which national authorities may send to the
Commission will be forwarded to the Honourable Member.

In any case, the ESF rules do not foresee repayment if a beneficiary transfers its operation outside the
Union. It must be underlined that ESF funding does not support a company as such, but provides an
investment in human capital, so that the training measures individuals benefit from improves their
employability.