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Document 92002E002081
WRITTEN QUESTION P-2081/02 by Christoph Konrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Use of Objective 2 funding in North-Rhine-Westphalia.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-2081/02 by Christoph Konrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Use of Objective 2 funding in North-Rhine-Westphalia.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-2081/02 by Christoph Konrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Use of Objective 2 funding in North-Rhine-Westphalia.
HL C 88E., 2004.4.8, p. 289–290
(ES, DA, DE, EL, EN, FR, IT, NL, PT, FI, SV)
|
8.4.2004 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
CE 88/289 |
(2004/C 88 E/0296)
WRITTEN QUESTION P-2081/02
by Christoph Konrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission
(8 July 2002)
Subject: Use of Objective 2 funding in North-Rhine-Westphalia
A big firm in Mülheim, North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), needs to move from its current location due to continuous expansion and is looking for a new site. There are two serious contenders in NRW: Mülheim and Oberhausen. Oberhausen town council has announced that it would make a EUR 1,5 million investment grant available under the Land government's regional economic development programme, which is known to be co-financed by Objective 2 funding from the EU, if the firm chose to relocate to Oberhausen. As Mülheim is not an Objective 2 area, it would not get a look-in.
Does the Commission consider this to be legitimate use of Objective 2 funding?
If so, under what conditions may a town/city or Land use such funding to ensure that it is successful when competing against other towns/cities or Länder to attract companies looking for new sites?
If not, what action should, in its opinion, be taken in such cases?
Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission
(12 August 2002)
The Oberhausen town council has no authority with regard to the approval of projects for financial support under the North Rhine Westphalia Objective 2 Single Programming Document (SPD). This responsibility belongs only to the managing authority which is the regional government of North Rhine Westphalia in this case.
Support for private investments under the SPD is in general restricted to small and medium-sized enterprises. As an exception, big companies can be supported where they contribute to building the strength of the region, for example, under measure 2.8, ‘new energies’ or measure 3.4, ‘logistics’.
Decisions on company location are a responsibility for the management which must take into account all the circumstances prevailing. Such decisions are unlikely to be influenced solely by opportunities for financial support from public sources. In addition, all public support of this kind, whether it is of national or Community origin, has to respect Community legislation concerning State aids.
With regard to the Structural Funds, the rules in force envisage two measures that are intended to limit the effects of relocation for companies in receipt of EU support. First, in the Commission's guidelines on national regional aid (1), it is required that recipients of EU support must maintain, for a five-year period, any investment or any jobs thus created. Secondly, Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds (2) stipulates that the contribution of European funds in productive activities is conditional on the location of these activities remaining unchanged during five years following the decision to grant support.