WRITTEN QUESTION No. 6/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Repayment of subsidies for investment in Portugal
C 323/18 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 10. 98 Joint answer to Written Questions E-4213/97 and E-4214/97 given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (6 April 1998) As indicated in the joint reply to the Honourable Memberís Written Questions E-4208/97 to 4211/97 (1), the Commission drew the necessary conclusions from the Elida Gibbs judgment of 24 October 1996 (Case C-317/94), writing to all the Member States and deciding to initiate or continue several proceedings under Article 169 of the Treaty, including against the Member States referred to by the Honourable Member. The Commission would point out that, under the Treaty, the Court of Justice is competent to interpret existing Community law and that it is not for the Commission, much less its officials, to ignore its judgments. However, in so far as some Member States, as in the case in point, have difficulty in applying a judgment, the Commission cannot prevent such difficulties being raised in ad hoc committees. This is how this matter came to be discussed in the VAT Committee. At this point in time, no proposal on the subject mentioned by the Honourable Member is being prepared by the Commission. It goes without saying that, if an initiative were to be taken, those involved in business would be consulted as always, principally by means of the respective opinions of Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee and through regular contacts with those business interests. (1) OJ C 223, 17. 7. 1998, p. 72. (98/C 323/24) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0006/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (29 January 1998) Subject: Repayment of subsidies for investment in Portugal The Portuguese press reports that the Cap Verde company received large amounts of subsidies from Portugal and the EU for investment in fruit and vegetable growing in the Alentejo region of Portugal. Odefrutaí, a company set up in Odemira to implement the EU-funded investment programme, went bankrupt in 1993, leaving behind huge debts and unpaid producers and having caused considerable environmental damage. As it is Community practice to stipulate that any enterprise in receipt of EU funding must return the subsidies it has received in the event of going out of business, will the Commission say: 1. whether there has been a Community investigation into Odefruta and what its findings are, 2. whether corresponding national or Community stipulations were made in Odefrutaís case, 3. whether proceedings have been initiated to recover the subsidies paid to Odefruta, and 4. what measures it has taken to avoid subsidizing companies in future without adequately satisfying itself of the viability of the enterprise and the sound management of the subsidies? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (27 February 1998) By decision of 21 November 1991 the Commission approved the operational programme to develop the Mira basin (Alentejo, Portugal), where the Odefruta company project referred to by the Honourable Member is located