WRITTEN QUESTION No. 44/98 by Klaus REHDER to the Commission. Subsidies for Italian road haulage undertakings
C 223/92 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 7. 98 The comparison of this case to the one of Yugoslavia in the 1992 European Football championships, which the Honourable Member makes in his question, does not seem fully relevant, since the decision to exclude Yugoslavia was taken by the FIFA and not by the EU, and since there was uncertainty as to whether the State that the national team of Yugoslavia represented still existed. (98/C 223/116) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0044/98 by Klaus Rehder (PSE) to the Commission (29 January 1998) Subject: Subsidies for Italian road haulage undertakings The Republic of Italy has granted Italian road haulage undertakings subsidies of approx. ECU 110 million for 1997 (a 50 million discount on road tax, an additional 16 million in tax relief, a 29 million reduction in road tolls and 15 million as a social insurance bonus). Italian road haulage undertakings have now demanded similar subsidies from the Italian Government for 1998. Does the Commission consider that these subsidies are unobjectionable from the point of view of 1. competition law? If it has reached the conclusion that these subsidies are incompatible with EU competition law, what steps 2. has it taken so far to address this problem? Is the Commission considering initiating proceedings against the Republic of Italy for violating the rules of 3. competition? 4. Is this type of subsidy compatible with the European Unionís objective of diverting traffic to the railways? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (24 March 1998) The Commission has assessed whether state aids to the Italian road transport sector have conformed with the relevant Community legislation on various occasions and those assessments have resulted in a number of Commission decisions, three of which were referred to the Court of Justice or to the Court of first instance in 1997. The Commission was, however, only recently made aware of the specific financial benefits, granted to the Italian road haulage sector mentioned by the Honourable Member. These benefits are now being examined by the Commission under the provisions of Articles 92 and 93 of the EC Treaty. Since the procedure is pending, the Commission is unable to comment on the case and, in particular, can offer no public view on whether these measures conform with Community competition rules. When decisions are made they will be announced in the usual way. (98/C 223/117) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0046/98 by Ian White (PSE) to the Commission (29 January 1998) Subject: Clarification of the European Parliament and Council Directive 96/83/EC of 19 December 1996 Article 2(a) paragraph 3 of Directive 96/83/EC (1) refers to sweeteners being used in food for infants and young children