WRITTEN QUESTION E-1917/03 by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission. Failure to comply with Community law in connection with the subcontracting of services to non-Community helicopter companies.
Date: 2003-06-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, administrative procedure, fire protection, harmonisation of standards, helicopter, infringement of EU law, provision of services, services contract, transport safety, working conditions

6.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 58 E/115

(2004/C 58 E/132)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1917/03

by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission

(12 June 2003)

Subject: Failure to comply with Community law in connection with the subcontracting of services to non-

Community helicopter companies

The competent authorities in Spain are pursuing a policy of subcontracting non-Community to fight forest
fires with helicopters not certified in the European Union. Specific mention might be made of the non-
Community companies Heliseco Ltd, from Poland, and Skorpion Air, from Bulgaria, which have been
subcontracted by the Spanish contract-holders Helicsa SA and Helisureste SA (following public calls for
tender issued by the Spanish Environment Ministry).

Nevertheless,
irregularities in the treatment of workers in the firms subcontracted.

inspections carried out by the Spanish labour authority in 1999 and 2000 revealed

Does the Commission not believe that, on the basis of the facts set out above, Spain is clearly failing to
comply with Council Directive 92/50/EEC (1) of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures
for the award of public service contracts, in view of the persistent violation of the provisions of Chapter II
thereof?

Does the Commission believe that the practices described here and in previous questions comply with
Directive 96/71/EC (2) on the transnational posting of workers, which provides that undertakings from
third-countries must not be given more favourable treatment
than those from the Member States
themselves?

Could the Commission guarantee that practices of subcontracting services to helicopters not approved by
the EU do not violate the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91 (3) on the harmonisation of technical
requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation?

See Written Questions E-3487/00, E-3488/00 and E-3489/00 (4).

(1) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 373, 31.12.1991, p. 4.
(4) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 9.

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1912/03, E-1913/03,
E-1914/03, E-1915/03, E-1916/03 and E-1917/03
given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(9 September 2003)

For information on the general situation regarding the use of helicopters to fight forest fires in Spain, the
Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answers to questions E-3487/00 to E-3489/00 (1).

To date, the Community has not yet adopted common rules applicable to the technical operation of
helicopters. Consequently, Council Regulation (EC) No 3922/91 of 16 December 1991 on the harmon-
isation of technical requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation (2) does not
apply and it is up to each Member State to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of aircraft
operations.

Regarding the purchase of helicopters for forest
the Commission has begun
infringement proceedings under ex-Article 226 of the EC Treaty against the Italian Republic with respect
to an order of the President of the Council of Ministers, dated 24 July 2002, authorising the purchase by
mutual agreement of the said helicopters outside the procedures provided for in Community public
procurement legislation.

fire fighting in Italy,

C 58 E/116

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2004

Where Spain is concerned, the Commission has no knowledge of any such irregularities. As already
indicated in the Commission’s joint answer of 13 February to Written Questions E-3487/00, E-3488/00
and E-3489/00, all Spanish public authorities responsible for preventing and fighting forest fires were
using, at that time, around 100 helicopters. In order to do so, they had concluded contracts with private
helicopter operators, applying the public procurement rules governed by the provisions of Royal
Decree 2/2000 of 16 June 2000, which transposes the Community public procurement Directives into
Spanish law.

According to information available at the time, if there are not enough Spanish helicopters, the companies
registered in other States.
employed by the public authorities
The Commission has no knowledge of any helicopters being hired in breach of the procedures applicable
under Community public procurement rules.

temporarily hire civil helicopters

Regarding compliance with the rules on competition, the fact that two companies hold 90 % of the market
is not
in itself evidence that Community rules have been infringed, and the Commission has no
information allowing it to give an opinion on the matter.

Under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 of 23 July 1992 on protection of the Community’s forests
against fire (3), Community aid totalling EUR 13,3 million was granted to Spain from 1996 to 2002.

However, the Regulation only covers preventive measures (information campaigns, studies to identify the
causes of fires, the creation of protective infrastructure such as tracks, firebreaks and water supply points,
monitoring and the training of specialised personnel). Forest fire fighting with helicopters from outside the
Community has therefore never been funded within this framework.

Regarding the application of Council Directive 2000/79/EC of 27 November 2000 on the organisation of
working time of mobile workers in civil aviation (4), the deadline for transposition is 1 December 2003.
The Commission will check when the time comes whether the Member States have fulfilled their
obligations and will take, if necessary, the measures provided for in the EC Treaty.

If the inspections carried out by the Spanish labour authorities in 1999-2000 uncovered irregularities with
respect to the treatment of workers employed by subcontractors, it is up to the Spanish authorities to draw
conclusions from this, in particular regarding compliance with Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June
1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts (5).

(1) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001.
(2) OJ L 373, 31.12.1991.
(3) OJ L 217, 31.7.1992.
(4) OJ L 302, 1.12.2000.
(5) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992.

(2004/C 58 E/133)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1918/03

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(12 June 2003)

Subject: Misappropriation of
compensation

funds by Eurostat and the duty of

the officials responsible to provide

In autumn 1999, an audit produced by Eurostat’s internal audit service revealed that revenue of more than
EUR 920 000 from the sale of statistical data had not been registered in the Community budget as
required, but had been misappropriated, on the instigation of leading Eurostat officials and with their
approval.