WRITTEN QUESTION E-2669/99 by Benedetto Della Vedova (TDI) to the Commission. State aid to Philipp Holzmann AG.
3. 10. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 280 E/99 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (3) (as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 July 1998 (4)). (1) OJ L 298, 17. 10. 1989. (2) OJ L 202, 30. 7. 1997. (3) OJ L 204, 21. 7. 1998. (4) OJ L 217, 5. 8. 1998. (2000/C 280 E/101) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2669/99 by Benedetto Della Vedova (TDI) to the Commission Subject: State aid to Philipp Holzmann AG (12 January 2000) It has been announced that restructuring of Philipp Holzmann AG, the construction group. the German Government is to take various measures to facilitate the The Commissionís recent notice on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in the form of guarantees clarifies the circumstances in which State guarantees fall under the heading of State aid and how far they are compatible with Article 87 of the EC Treaty. The provisions announced, loans amounting to DEM 150 million and guarantees of a further DEM 100 million, constitute State aid (specifically, aid for rescuing and restructuring, as defined in the Community guidelines published in OJ C 368, 23. 12. 1994) falling within the scope of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty. In view of the above, does the Commission not consider that these measures taken by the German Government constitute a serious distortion of competition within the Community and breach the provisions on State aid in Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty? In the light of the statements by the Commissioner responsible for competition and the Governor of the European Central Bank on the ácoincidenceí of measures and proposals for State interference in the markets and the euroís weakness, does the Commission intend to take steps to reduce the number of possible exceptions to the prohibition on State aid contained in Article 87 of the EC Treaty? In particular, does the Commission not think it advisable to take action to modify, if not tighten up, the above-mentioned Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficultyí, which are characterised by an excessively general and broad approval system? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (9 February 2000) Whether or not the measures of the German government constitute a serious distortion of competition has to be assessed on the basis of a detailed analysis taking into account the criteria of the Guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (1). These guidelines which came into force on 9 October 1999 amended the previous guidelines from 1994 and have stricter criteria, for instance, with respect to the avoidance of undue distortions of competition and the áone time, last timeí principle. After a preliminary examination of the notification the Commission found that the aid raised doubts as to its compatibility with the common market. Therefore, on 18 January 2000 the Commission initiated proceedings in order to launch an in-depth investigation of the aid measures. (1) OJ C 288, 9. 10. 1999