WRITTEN QUESTION P-0126/03 by Giuseppe Di Lello Finuoli (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Funding by the Italian State and the Campania Regional Government of the programme contract presented by Agrifuturo S.c.a.r.l..
Date: 2003-01-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Campania, Italy, State aid, agri-foodstuffs, aid system, control of State aid, investment project

C 161 E/180

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

10.7.2003

(2003/C 161 E/185)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0126/03

by Giuseppe Di Lello Finuoli (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(21 January 2003)

Subject: Funding by the Italian State and the Campania Regional Government of the programme contract

presented by Agrifuturo S.c.a.r.l.

A programme contract concerning 37 investment initiatives, presented by Agrifuturo S.c.a.r.l. for a total of
EUR 118 425 640, has been approved by the Italian State (Decision of the Interministerial Economic
Planning Committee (CIPE) of 28.03.02) and the Campania Regional Government (Decision No 1479 of
30 March 2001), with an overall contribution of EUR 75 752 640 (63,97 % of the total) being made
available in public funding.

Could the Commission indicate whether:

(cid:1) the contract approved conforms to the CIPE Decision of 25 February 1994 and subsequent
amendments and additions thereto, which lays down that programme contracts are business
instruments available to SMEs intending to pursue a programme of
integrated and cohesive
investments in a district or sector or branch of industry, when in the case in point the programme
contract envisages measures in areas (seven interventions in the spheres of food preparation, cake and
biscuit making, meat products, etc.) that can scarcely be viewed as belonging to the same sector as the
central component of the said contract programme, which is to say the tomato tinning industry;

(cid:1) the investments in the tomato tinning and meat industries that have been envisaged and financed
might foster the conditions for an increase in productive capacity and whether such an increase is
allowable and conforms to current regulations and CAP rules;

(cid:1) the rate of state aid (63,97 %) conforms to Community rules governing aid schemes.

If significant non-compliance with or infringement of the Community regulations referred to above is
detected, what steps will
the Commission take with regard to Italy and the Campania Regional
Government?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(14 February 2003)

The Commission has no knowledge of the investment project presented by Agrifuturo S.c.a.r.l. but will
immediately contact the Italian authorities to clarify the situation. Given this lack of information it cannot
properly reply at the moment to the Honourable Member’s first two questions.

On the question of whether the aid rate of 63,97 % is in line with Community rules on State aid, two
possibilities have to be taken into consideration:

(cid:1) If the project comprises purely physical

investments for which the expenditure eligible for aid
corresponds to that indicated in point 4.2.3 of the Community guidelines for State aid in the
agriculture sector (1) the aid rate is indeed too high. Point 4.2.3 restricts it to 50 % of eligible
expenditure in Objective 1 regions, of which Campania is one.

(cid:1) On the other hand if the project includes other eligible expenditure, e.g. on technical assistance, it will
have to be checked what proportion of total project cost this accounts for, since the aid for this
expenditure may alter the overall aid rate for the project. At present, as stated above, the Commission
does not yet have the information it needs to do this.

On action to be taken when the Community State aid provisions are not observed, the procedure is as
follows. If it appears that a Member State has not complied with the rules the Commission opens the
examination procedure indicated in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty. The Member State then has one month

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in which to present its arguments for compatibility of the planned aid scheme with the common market
and interested third parties are invited by a notice published in the Official Journal to submit their
observations (these are forwarded to the Member State so that it can comment on them). Article 7(6) of
Regulation (EC) No 659/99 (2) requires the Commission to make every effort to take a decision within
18 months of opening the procedure. The decision can find the aid compatible,
incompatible or
conditionally compatible.

(1) OJ C 232, 12.8.2000.
(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying down detailed rules for application of Article 93 of

the EC Treaty, OJ L 83, 27.3.1999.

(2003/C 161 E/186)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0134/03

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 January 2003)

Subject: EU-Angola international fisheries agreement and development cooperation

In the context of the current EU-Angola international fisheries agreement, can the Commission indicate:

1. how much the EU has earmarked for the development of the fisheries sector in Angola?

2. how much the EU pays by way of a financial contribution in exchange for fishing rights for the

Community fleet?

3. how much Community shipowners have to pay in fees for fishing licences and fishing rights?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(7 March 2003)

1.
Article 3 of the current Protocol to the fisheries agreement between the Community and the Republic
of Angola (1) fixes the level of financial compensation at EUR 15 500 000 per year. Of this, EUR 5 525 000
is used for the measures in support of the Angolan fisheries sector specified in Article 4 of the Protocol.

The financial compensation of EUR 15 500 000 per year represents the amount that is paid in

2.
exchange for the fishing opportunities made available to the Community fleet.

3.
The amounts paid by the vessel owners are fixed in the Annex A to the Protocol. The licence fee for
vessels fishing for shrimps is EUR 52 per month per gross registered tonnage (GRT) and that for vessels
fishing for demersal species is EUR 220 per year per GRT. Fees for half-year licences shall be 3 % higher
and fees for quarterly licences 5 % higher. The licence fee for vessels fishing for pelagic species is EUR 3
per month per GRT. For tuna vessels and surface longliners the licence fees are EUR 25 per tonne caught
within Angolan waters. The licences are delivered after advance payments of EUR 4 500 for freezer tuna
seiners and EUR 2 500 for surface longliners. The amounts of the advances are deducted from the total
amount due on the basis of the catches during the preceding year, but if the amount due is less than the
advance the balance is not recoverable.

(1) OJ L 351, 28.12.2002.