WRITTEN QUESTION E-1319/03 by Elly Plooij-van Gorsel (ELDR) to the Commission. Suspected distortion of competition as a result of illegal State aid provided to Spanish shipbuilders by the Spanish government.
Date: 2003-04-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, State aid, complaint to the Commission, control of State aid, public economic law, restriction on competition, shipbuilding

6.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 58 E/59

(2004/C 58 E/077)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1319/03

by Elly Plooij-van Gorsel (ELDR) to the Commission

(7 April 2003)

Subject: Suspected distortion of competition as a result of illegal State aid provided to Spanish shipbuilders

by the Spanish government

In November 2001 the shipbuilding industry lodged a complaint with the Commission concerning
suspected distortion of competition as a result of illegal State aid to the Spanish shipbuilding industry
provided by the Spanish government. This distortion of competition could weaken the European
shipbuilding industry. The Commission’s investigations revealed no evidence supporting the suggestion
that the Spanish government had provided illegal State aid to Spanish shipbuilders. In December 2002 the
shipbuilding industry lodged a further complaint providing a number of illustrations corroborating the
suspicions of state aid.

Spanish shipbuilders are in a position where they can ask much lower prices than shipbuilding firms from
other EU Member States. There is no reason to assume that Spanish shipbuilding firms are able to produce
significantly more cheaply than their counterparts elsewhere in the EU. This gives clear grounds for
assuming that the illegal State aid may be involved.

Only recently the Spanish government granted a subsidy of approximately EUR 500 million to the Spanish
shipbuilding industry for research and development.

Is the Commission aware of recent developments concerning this alleged State aid and, if so, is it

1.
investigating this?

Does the Commission believe that illegal State aid is being granted by the Spanish government to the

2.
Spanish shipbuilding industry?

3.
How does the Commission view the subsidy of EUR 500 million recently granted by the Spanish
government to the Spanish shipbuilding industry in terms of fair competition? Was Brussels notified of this
subsidy?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(27 May 2003)

1.

It is assumed that the first question refers to the issues mentioned in the first paragraph above.

It is correct, as the Honourable Member points out, that the Commission, on the basis of available
information, has not been able to find any proof of illegal aid actually offered or granted by the Spanish
Government to Spanish shipbuilders in the referred case. It can be noted that the complaint concerned
alleged aid to private Spanish shipyards.

The further complaint
lodged in December 2002 concerns the public Spanish shipyards, and may
therefore not be directly linked to the previous complaint. The Commission is still investigating this issue.

The Commission has a procedure open (1) on state aid case C 40/00, which concerns suspicions that

2.
illegal state aid has been provided to the public Spanish shipyards.

3.
The Commission is not aware of any decision by the Spanish government to grant the alleged
EUR 500 million to the Spanish shipbuilding industry as aid for Research and Technological Development.

(1) OJ C 328, 18.11.2000 and OJ C 21, 24.1.2002.