natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Som følge af forsinkelserne i forbindelse med indhentningen af de nødvendige byggetilladelser blev disse forhåndsaftaler annulleret i september 2008, og det betød, at ingen af de boliger, som SJB skulle opføre på Damplein, var blevet solgt på forhånd, da SJB endelig fik tilladelse til at påbegynde byggeriet i november samme år.
Second, the PPP was to collect additional revenues by charging each private project developer a ground exploitation fee and a quality fee pursuant to Article 10.3 of the 2004 Cooperation Agreement [11].
I mellemtiden var finanskrisen en realitet, og den ramte navnlig det nederlandske ejendomsmarked.
These fees were calculated on the basis of the number of housing units to be built by the private project developer and could be increased or decreased depending on the number of units actually constructed.
I den forbindelse oplyste SJB kommunen, at man ikke ville påbegynde anlægsarbejdet, idet selskabet i henhold til 2004-samarbejdsaftalen kunne udskyde opførelsen af boligerne, hvis man havde solgt under 70 % af dem.
These fees were due on 1 July 2004 at the latest and needed to be paid in a single instalment for all housing units constructed in the Leidschendam Centrum Project by the private developer concerned.
SJB henviste i denne forbindelse til aftalebestemmelserne i 2004-samarbejdsaftalen, navnlig punkt 6.6 i 2004-samarbejdsaftalen, der giver parterne mulighed for at genforhandle prisen og leveringsdatoerne, hvis byggetilladelserne ikke udstedes til tiden.
As regards SJB, the total ground exploitation fee was determined at approximately EUR 1,1 million and the quality fee at approximately EUR 0,9 million (value on 1 January 2003), indexed yearly at 2,5 % until payment, for all the housing units it planned to build in the Leidschendam centrum area.
Ifølge SJB kunne SJB ikke tvinges til at gennemføre samarbejdsaftalen uændret, da disse tilladelser først blev udstedt tre år efter den planlagte dato.
The final ground exploitation fee and quality fee due would depend on the number of housing units actually built.
Parterne besluttede derfor at genforhandle de oprindelige aftaler.
The 2004 Cooperation Agreement in its Article 6.6 [12] provides that, if the building permits are not delivered on schedule, the parties will renegotiate the agreement, including the calculation of the land prices and the data on which these need to be paid, staying as close as possible to the conditions of this agreement and of the bilateral agreements.
I efteråret 2008 tilbød SJB OPP at betale 4 mio. EUR for jorden på Damplein i stedet for de 7,2 mio. EUR (værdi pr. 1. januar 2003), man oprindeligt havde aftalt, hvorefter SJB ville påbegynde byggeriet i april 2009, uanset om boligerne var blevet solgt på forhånd.
Furthermore, Article 16 of the 2004 Cooperation Agreement stipulates that this agreement or the bilateral agreements can only be annulled totally or partly in the specifically listed situations.
Til gengæld for denne prissænkning var SJB villig til at give afkald på sin ret til at påberåbe sig 70 %-klausulen i 2004-samarbejdsaftalen og det påførte tab som følge af forsinkelsen i udstedelsen af byggetilladelsen på tre år.
One of these situations is ‘unforeseen circumstances as referred to in Article 6:258 of the Civil Code’: if one of the parties is then of the opinion that the other parties cannot require from him an unchanged execution of the agreement, they have to enter into negotiations in order to arrive at mutually agreed modified terms.
I henhold til de nederlandske myndigheder medførte dette en pris, der var lavere end den pris, der kunne forventes ved direkte salg til private.
If this is not possible the dispute has to be submitted to arbitration in accordance with the rules of the Dutch Arbitration Institute in Rotterdam.
Den 18. december 2008 aftalte OPP og SJB i princippet prisnedsættelsen, men inden der blev indhentet godkendelse fra kommunalrådet, kontaktede kommunen en uafhængig sagkyndig med henblik på at afgøre, om den pris, som SJB havde beregnet, var en markedskonform pris.
The place of arbitration is Den Haag.
I sin rapport fra den 11. februar 2009 konkluderede den sagkyndige, at en pris på 4 mio. EUR (værdi pr. 1. januar 2010) på grundlag af restværdimetoden kunne betragtes som en markedskonform pris for jorden på Damplein i 2010, idet SJB havde forpligtet sig til at sælge de usolgte boliger til en investor og havde accepteret at nedsætte sin oprindeligt planlagte overskuds- og risikomargin fra 5 % til 2 %.
THE RETROACTIVE PRICE DECREASE AND WAIVED FEES
Rapporten tog ikke hensyn til nedsættelsen af arealudnyttelsesgebyret og kvalitetsgebyret.
According to the timeline which was set up in March 2004, construction works on the Damplein were initially planned to start in November 2005.
På grundlag af denne rapport, og fordi kommunen i henhold til de nederlandske myndigheder frygtede yderligere forsinkelser og fandt det hensigtsmæssigt, at byggeriet blev indledt så hurtigt som muligt, besluttede kommunalrådet på sit møde den 10. marts 2009, at OPP skulle acceptere sænkningen af den pris og de gebyrer, der oprindeligt var aftalt med SJB i 2004 for jorden på Damplein.
However, owing to several national court proceedings, the building permits SJB needed to commence construction were delayed and eventually only obtained in November 2008.
I et forslag af 18. februar 2009 fra kommunen, som blev sendt til medlemmerne af kommunalrådet, omtales en nedsættelse af prisen på jorden og en nedsættelse af arealudnyttelses- og kvalitetsgebyret.
SJB started with the pre-sale of housing units in February 2007, but experienced difficulties selling these and eventually managed to pre-sell only 20 of the 67 planned units.
I forslaget angives det endvidere, at denne prisnedsættelse ville gøre arealudnyttelsesfasen, som i henhold til budgettet ville være omkostningsneutral, til et underskudsgivende projekt.
Because of the delays encountered in obtaining the necessary building permits, these pre-sale contracts were annulled in September 2008 so that, when SJB finally obtained the permits to start construction works in November of that year, none of the housing units SJB was required to build on the Damplein had been pre-sold.
I forslaget anmodes kommunen også om at foretage den nødvendige hensættelse til 50 % af underskuddet.
In the meantime, the financial crisis had started and affected the Dutch real-estate market in particular.
Forslaget nævner endvidere, at SJB som følge af finanskrisen ikke var i stand til at skaffe den nødvendige finansiering til udvikling af Damplein.
In this context, SJB informed the Municipality that it would not start any of the construction works, relying on the clause in the 2004 Cooperation Agreement that allowed it to postpone construction of the housing units if less than 70 % of these units had been sold.
Prisnedsættelsen blev formaliseret i en aftale indgået den 1. marts 2010 (i det følgende benævnt »den supplerende aftale«) mellem kommunen, OPP og SJB.
In this regard SJB referred to the contractual provisions in the 2004 Cooperation agreement, in particular Article 6.6 of the 2004 Cooperation agreement which provides for the possibility of renegotiating the price and the delivery dates if the building permits were not delivered in time.
Denne aftale ændrede 2004-samarbejdsaftalen, SJB-projektaftalen og GREX-aftalen.
According to SJB, since these permits were only delivered 3 years after the planned date, SJB could not be held to execute the Cooperation agreement unchanged.
I punkt 2.1.2, første afsnit, litra i), i den supplerende aftale fastsættes det, at prisen på jorden på Damplein, der skulle sælges til SJB, ville være 4 mio. EUR, hvilket ikke er i overensstemmelse med det, der var aftalt i 2004-samarbejdsaftalen.
As a result the parties decided to renegotiate the initial arrangements.
Punkt 2.1.2, første afsnit, litra ii), i den supplerende aftale fastsætter, at det tidligere aftalte arealudnyttelses- og kvalitetsgebyr ikke længere skal betales.
In the Autumn of 2008, SJB made a proposal to the PPP to pay EUR 4 million for the land on the Damplein, instead of the EUR 7,2 million (value on 1 January 2003) originally agreed, whereby SJB would start the construction works in April 2009 regardless of whether the housing units had been pre-sold.
I dette andet afsnit henvises der ikke specifikt til jorden på Damplein [13].
In return for this decrease in price, SJB was therefore willing to waive its right to invoke the 70 % clause contained in the 2004 Cooperation Agreement and the damage suffered as a result of the delay of 3 years in delivering the building permits.
I den supplerende aftale angives det også, at SJB påbegyndte anlægsarbejdet på Damplein den 7. juli 2009, og at det skulle gennemføre arbejdet uden afbrydelse.
SJB further proposed to contact an investor who would guarantee to buy the unsold housing units.
Overdragelse af jorden skulle finde sted senest i midten af marts 2010, og betaling skulle finde sted senest på overdragelsesdagen.
According to the Dutch authorities this resulted in a price lower than that expected from a direct sale to private persons.
Den 13. juli 2009 indgik OPP og SJB en ny aftale om den offentlige parkeringskælder [14].
On 18 December 2008, the PPP and SJB agreed in principle to the price decrease, but before seeking approval from the Municipality's Council, the Municipality contacted an independent expert to determine whether the price calculated by SJB was a market-compliant price.
I henhold til denne aftale skulle SJB påbegynde byggeriet af den offentlige parkeringskælder i andet kvartal 2009 og afslutte det inden for en bestemt tidsperiode.
In its report of 11 February 2009, the expert concluded that EUR 4 million (value on 1 January 2010) could, on the basis of the residual value method, be considered a market-compliant price for the land on the Damplein in 2010, taking into account the fact that SJB committed to sell the unsold housing units to an investor and had agreed to lower its initially planned profit and risk margin from 5 % to 2 %.
OPP skulle betale SJB 5,4 mio. EUR (værdi pr. 1. april 2009) for byggeriet af den offentlige parkeringskælder [15].
The report did not take into account the lowering of the ground exploitation fee and quality fee.
Dette beløb skulle være fast indtil overdragelse og ville ikke blive indeksreguleret.
On the basis of this report and because, according to the Dutch authorities, the Municipality feared further delays and considered it of general interest that the construction phase was started as soon as possible, the Municipality's Council, at its meeting of 10 March 2009, decided that the PPP would agree to lower the price and fees originally agreed in 2004 with SJB for the land located on the Damplein.
Den 15. januar 2010 underskrev SJB og Wooninvest Projecten BV, et selskab tilknyttet en af de projektudviklere, der havde underskrevet 2004-samarbejdsaftalen, en købs-/anlægskontrakt (koop/aannemingsovereenkomst) vedrørende købet af 43 boliger, som Wooninvest skulle udleje til private.
A proposal of 18 February 2009 from the Municipality, which was sent to the members of its Council, refers to a decrease in price for the land and a decrease in the ground exploitation and quality fees.
Hvis SJB fandt en privat køber til nogle af disse boliger inden den 29. januar 2010, ville disse boliger i henhold til aftalen mellem parterne ikke blive solgt til Wooninvest.
The proposal further states that this decrease would turn the ground exploitation phase, which was budgeted to be break-even, into a loss-making project.
I henhold til aftalen kan SJB i en periode fra den 29. januar 2010 og indtil overdragelse af boligerne til Wooninvest tilbagekøbe boliger solgt til Wooninvest på de samme betingelser, som de blev solgt til Wooninvest på, plus kompensation for Wooninvests omkostninger og en rente på 6 % pr. år for perioden mellem Wooninvests betaling til SJB og overdragelsen af boligerne fra Wooninvest til SJB (punkt 24).
The proposal also requested the Municipality to make the necessary provision for 50 % of the losses.
ÅBNINGSAFGØRELSEN
The proposal further mentions that owing to the financial crisis SJB was not able to obtain the necessary financing for the development of the Damplein.
Ved sin afgørelse om indledning af proceduren indledte Kommissionen den formelle undersøgelsesprocedure efter artikel 108, stk. 2, i TEUF med hensyn til den retroaktive sænkning af salgsprisen for jorden og OPP's afkald på arealudnyttelses- og kvalitetsgebyret til fordel for SJB (i det følgende benævnt »de anfægtede foranstaltninger«) med den begrundelse, at disse foranstaltninger kunne udgøre statsstøtte som defineret i artikel 107, stk. 1, i TEUF, og at Kommissionen var i tvivl om deres forenelighed med det indre marked.
The price decrease was formalised in an agreement concluded on 1 March 2010 (hereinafter: the ‘Supplementary Agreement’) between the Municipality, the PPP and SJB.
Ved retroaktivt at sænke prisen på den jord, OPP havde solgt til SJB, besluttede OPP og dermed kommunen at bære risikoen for det faldende boligmarked.
Article 2.1.2, first paragraph, sub (i), of the Supplementary Agreement provides that, contrary to what was agreed to in the 2004 Cooperation agreement, the price of the land on the Damplein to be sold to SJB would be EUR 4 million.
Denne handlemåde er i strid med de nederlandske myndigheders egen påstand om, at de private projektudviklere, herunder SJB, alene skulle bære risikoen og omkostningerne i forbindelse med projektets anlægsfase.
Article 2.1.2, first paragraph, sub (ii), of the Supplementary Agreement provides that the previously agreed ground exploitation fee and quality fee were no longer due.
Da OPP som sælger af jorden ikke var finansielt involveret i denne fase af projektet, var der ingen grund til at tro, at en hypotetisk privat sælger i en lignende situation som kommunens ville acceptere retroaktivt at sænke en aftalt salgspris for et areal, fordi den pågældende køber havde problemer med at sælge de boliger, vedkommende havde opført på det omhandlede areal.
No reference is made in that second paragraph to the land on the Damplein in particular [13].
Afkaldet på arealudnyttelses- og kvalitetsgebyret opfyldte tilsyneladende heller ikke den markedsøkonomiske investortest, da en privat investor næppe retroaktivt ville have accepteret at give afkald på et bidrag til sine omkostninger uden noget til gengæld.
The Supplementary Agreement also states that SJB started the construction works on the Damplein on 7 July 2009 and that it had to undertake those works without interruption.
Endelig udtrykte Kommissionen tvivl om, hvorvidt de anfægtede foranstaltninger var omfattet af de undtagelser, der er fastlagt i artikel 107 i TEUF.
The works had to be finished by December 2011.
BEMÆRKNINGER FRA NEDERLANDENE
In case of late delivery, SJB was to reimburse part of the decreased price.
Ved brev af 18. april 2012 indgav de nederlandske myndigheder deres bemærkninger til Kommissionen om afgørelsen om indledning af proceduren.
Delivery of the land would take place at the latest in mid-March 2010 and payment would take place at the latest on the day of delivery.
BEMÆRKNINGER VEDRØRENDE SAGSFORHOLDET
Furthermore, on 13 July 2009, the PPP and SJB concluded a new agreement concerning the underground public parking garage [14].
De nederlandske myndigheder oplyser, at kommunen, i modsætning til hvad der fremgår af punkt 2.1.2 i den supplerende aftale, ikke havde givet afkald på hele det arealudnyttelses- og kvalitetsgebyr, der oprindeligt var aftalt i 2004-samarbejdsaftalen, men kun på de gebyrer, som SJB skulle betale for de boliger, der skulle opføres på Damplein.
According to this agreement, SJB would start the construction works on the public parking garage during the second quarter of 2009 and would complete these within a fixed period of time.
I henhold til de nederlandske myndigheder beløb disse gebyrer sig til i alt 511544 EUR (værdi pr. 1. januar 2003, som repræsenterede en samlet værdi på 719400 EUR pr. 1. januar 2010).
The PPP would pay SJB EUR 5,4 million (value on 1 April 2009) for the construction of the public parking garage [15]; this amount would be fixed until delivery and would not be indexed.
For at begrunde deres holdning henviste de nederlandske myndigheder til et forslag vedrørende prisnedsættelsen, som kommunen havde sendt til kommunalrådet den 18. februar 2009, og til et byggeprogram, der var vedlagt 2004-samarbejdsaftalen, som tildeler et arealudnyttelses- og kvalitetsgebyr på i alt 511544 EUR til Damplein.
On 15 January 2010, SJB and Wooninvest Projecten BV, a company related to one of the project developers who signed the 2004 Cooperation Agreement, signed a purchase/construction agreement (koop/aannemingsovereenkomst) for the purchase of 43 housing units, which would be rented out to private persons by Wooninvest.
Disse nedsættelser ville blive indrømmet, hvis SJB modtog en gyldig byggetilladelse inden den 1. oktober 2008.
In the event that SJB found a private purchaser for some of these housing units before 29 January 2010, the parties agreed that these units would not be sold to Wooninvest.
Da det ikke skete, besluttede parterne at genforhandle prisnedsættelsen.
The agreement also provides for a period between 29 January 2010 until the delivery of the units to Wooninvest during which SJB can repurchase the units sold to Wooninvest under the same conditions as they were sold to Wooninvest, plus compensation of the costs borne by Wooninvest and an interest of 6 % per year for the period between payment by Wooninvest to SJB and the redelivery of the units from Wooninvest to SJB (Article 24).
I henhold til de nederlandske myndigheder skal prisnedsættelsen for jorden på Damplein og de opgivne gebyrer beregnes som anført i tabel 1 nedenfor.
THE OPENING DECISION
Tabel 1
By way of the opening decision, the Commission initiated the formal investigation procedure laid down in Article 108(2) TFEU in respect of the retroactive price decrease of the land and the waiver of the ground exploitation and quality fees by the PPP in favour of SJB (hereafter: the ‘contested measures’) on the grounds that these measures could entail State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU and the Commission had doubts as to their compatibility with the internal market.
Beregning af prisnedsættelse og opgivne gebyrer i henhold til de nederlandske myndigheder
In particular, the Commission considered it unlikely that a hypothetical private vendor in a situation similar to that of the Municipality would have agreed to the same price reduction and waiver of fees as required by the market economy investor test (hereinafter: ‘MEIT’).
Prisnedsættelse Damplein
By retroactively decreasing the sales price of the land it sold to SJB, the PPP and, therefore, the Municipality decided to carry the risk of a declining housing market.
Værdi pr. 1.1.2010
This behaviour is contrary to the Dutch authorities' own assertion that the construction phase of the project was to be entirely at the risk and the expense of the private project developers, including SJB.
Grundværdi
Since the PPP, as the seller of the land, had no financial involvement in this phase of the project, there was no reason to believe that a hypothetical private seller in a similar situation as the Municipality would agree to retroactively lower an agreed sales price for a plot of land because the intended buyer had problems selling housing units it planned to build on that land.
Arealudnyttelses- og kvalitetsgebyr
Nor did the waivers granted for the ground exploitation and quality fees seem to conform with the MEIT, as it was unlikely that a private investor would retroactively waive an agreed contribution to its costs without any consideration in return.
Jord og gebyrer i alt
Finally, the Commission expressed its doubts as to whether the contested measures could fall within the scope of any of the exceptions laid down in Article 107 TFEU.
Reduceret værdi
By letter dated 18 April 2012, the Dutch authorities submitted their comments on the Commission's opening decision.
Værdi, jf. supplerende aftale fra marts 2010
COMMENTS REGARDING THE FACTS
Prisnedsættelse i alt
The Dutch authorities specified that, contrary to what was suggested by the wording of Article 2.1.2. of the Supplementary Agreement, the Municipality had not waived the full amounts of the initially agreed ground exploitation fee and quality fee under the 2004 Cooperation Agreement, but rather only those fees that were due by SJB for the housing units to be built on the Damplein.
BEMÆRKNINGER VEDRØRENDE EKSISTENSEN AF STATSSTØTTE
According to the Dutch authorities, those fees amounted together to EUR 511544 (value on 1 January 2003, which would represent a total value of EUR 719400 on 1 January 2010).
De nederlandske myndigheder er ikke enige i, at de anfægtede foranstaltninger udgør statsstøtte i henhold til artikel 107, stk. 1, i TEUF.
To substantiate their position, the Dutch authorities referred to a proposal concerning the price decrease sent by the Municipality to its Council on 18 February 2009 and to a building programme annexed to the 2004 Cooperation Agreement which allocates a ground exploitation and quality fee of EUR 511544 to the Damplein.
De nederlandske myndigheder mener grundlæggende, at de anfægtede foranstaltninger ikke giver SJB en fordel, som det ikke ville have fået under normale markedsforhold.
Furthermore, the Dutch authorities informed the Commission that price decreases with regard to SJB were discussed within the PPP already in 2006 and 2008.
I stedet finder de nederlandske myndigheder, at kommunen handlede i overensstemmelse med den markedsøkonomiske investortest, da manglende gennemførelse af Damplein-projektet ville have haft betydning for hele Leidschendam Centrum-projektet og ville have medført både direkte og indirekte tab for kommunen.
In 2006, the PPP apparently decided to lower the land sales price for the commercial premises owing to the fact that less commercial space could be constructed than initially planned, whereas in 2008 the PPP apparently decided to grant SJB compensation for the delay in the delivery of the building permit.
Ved beregningen af det direkte tab antog kommunen, at det ville have taget SJB mindst to år at sælge 70 % af boligerne i kriseperioden og påbegynde anlægsarbejdet uden den supplerende aftale.
These decreases would be granted under the condition that SJB would receive a valid building permit by 1 October 2008.
Kommunen budgetterede, at det direkte tab som følge af en yderligere forsinkelse på to år ville beløbe sig til 2,85 mio. EUR for OPP, hvoraf 50 % skulle betales af kommunen.
As this was not the case, the parties decided to re-negotiate the decrease again.
Den anslog endvidere, at kommunen skulle afholde en yderligere direkte omkostning på 50000 EUR alene til at vedligeholde det forfaldne område (se tabel 2).
According to the Dutch authorities, the decrease in price for the land on the Damplein as well as the waived fees should be calculated as set out in Table 1 below.
Tabel 2
Table 1
Direkte tab beregnet af de nederlandske myndigheder
Calculation of the decrease in price and waived fees proposed by the Dutch authorities
Direkte tab i to år
Decrease Damplein
OPP
value 1.1.2010
Kommune (50 %)
Value land
Renteudgift til kredit (5 % i 2 år af udestående beløb pr. 1.1.2009 17 mio. EUR)
Ground exploitation fee and quality fee
Midlertidig opsætning af hegn, vejskilte og vedligeholdelse
Total land and fees
Hensættelser til omkostningsstigning (indeks på 2,5 %)
Decreases agreed in 2006 and 2008
Ekstra planlægningsomkostninger, dvs. omkostninger til projektforvaltning såsom finansiel administration, forsikring osv.
Reduced value
Vedligeholdelse af forfaldent område
Value supplementary agreement March 2010
I alt
Total decrease
De nederlandske myndigheder hævder endvidere, at kommunen ville have pådraget sig et indirekte tab som følge af en sådan forsinkelse, herunder yderligere forfald af det offentlige areal, tab af tiltro til området fra indbyggernes og fremtidige ejendomskøberes side, udgifter til flytning af forretninger, erstatningskrav fra virksomheder, vedligeholdelsesomkostninger og ændring af planer for andre delprojekter.
COMMENTS REGARDING THE EXISTENCE OF STATE AID