WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1820/97 by Jesús CABEZÓN ALONSO to the Commission. Activities of Spanish shipyards
C 45/108 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 2. 98 (98/C 45/135) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1822/97 by Jesu·s Cabezo·n Alonso (PSE) to the Commission (28 May 1997) Subject: Activities of publicly-owned Spanish shipyards The Commission has informed the Spanish Government of its decision to extend the procedure concerning the aid granted to publicly-owned shipyards (1). Pending further information from the Spanish authorities, the Commission appears to accept that Astander (Astilleros de Santander) should cease building new vessels and should maintain its activities of árepair and conversionsí. What arguments has the Spanish Government put forward which would make it possible to prevent Astander from continuing to carry out áconversionsí? Has the Commission taken any firm decision in this connection? (1) OJ C 53, 22. 2. 1997, p. 3. Joint answer to Written Questions E-1820/97 and E-1822/97 given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (20 June 1997) First, to avoid any possible misunderstandings, it should be explained that in deciding to extend the procedure under Article 93. 2 EC Treaty, the Commission was concerned about the adequacy of the capacity reductions in the beneficiary public yards as the necessary counterpart for the very substantial amounts of aid proposed, a large part of which was incompatible with the normal shipbuilding aid rules. It was within this context that the Commission had expressed doubts whether the proposals for Astander could be considered a sufficient and genuine capacity reduction, particularly since the yard had ceased new building in 1990 and would remain open to conversions whereas normally conversions and newbuildings are treated together for the purposes of the shipbuilding aid directive (both activities being eligible for contract-related production aid, unlike ship repair). However, as the Honourable Member is probably aware, the procedure was subsequently overtaken when the Spanish government presented revised proposals to address the Commissionís concerns (shared by many Member States) that the possible distortions to competition should be minimised. Under the revised plan, in addition to the cessation of newbuilding at Astander, a series of other measures (involving closure of installations but not total closure of yards) will be taken with immediate effect to achieve an overall capacity reduction in the public yards of 30,000 compensated gross registered tonnes (cgrt). This will be supplemented by the non-reopening to shipbuilding of the public yard at Astano and by further capacity reductions in the private sector amounting to 17,500 cgrt. The Spanish government has also agreed that Astander will not carry out ship conversions as long as it remains in public ownership. Questions about the thinking behind the revised plan are a matter for the Spanish authorities. On this basis the Industry Council, at its meeting on 24 April 1997, agreed that Spain could be granted a derogation from the rules of the shipbuilding aid directive. This derogation was formally adopted as a Council Regulation on 2 June 1997 (1) leaving the way clear for the Commission to close the procedure and approve the aid. A final Commission decision is expected shortly. (1) OJ L 148, 6. 6. 1997