92002E0078

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0078/02

by Ulrich Stockmann (PSE) to the Commission

(25 January 2002)

Subject: Possible closure of the Ammendorf/Halle (Saale) railway carriage factory

On 12 November 2001 the Canadian rail vehicle manufacturer Bombardier announced the closure of the Ammendorf railway carriage factory in Halle (Saale) in Saxon-Anhalt, threatening the loss of almost 1000 jobs.

The background is that after German reunification the successor to Treuhand, BVS, after various unsuccessful attempts at privatisation, sold Deutsche Waggonbau AG which included the Ammendorf works, to a US investment company, which two years later sold Deutsche Waggonbau AG to the Canadian rail vehicle company Bombardier.

Was any state aid approved for the Ammendorf works, and if so, how much?

Did the Ammendorf works receive financial support from European (aid) programmes, and if so, how much?

If the works are closed down, do any subsidies have to be repaid?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(22 February 2002)

On the basis of information presently available, the Commission can not determine whether state aid has been awarded to the Ammendorf railway carriage factory in Halle (Saale) in Saxon-Anhalt. It can, however, not be excluded that state aid has been awarded under the special Treuhand aid schemes in the context of the privatisation process of companies in the New Bundesländer or under regional aid schemes approved by the Commission. If aid to the company was granted in accordance with the criteria laid down in the Commission's decisions to approve these schemes, no individual notification for aid measures to the Ammendorf works was required.

State aid awarded outside the scope of approved aid schemes has to be notified individually by the Member State to the Commission as ad-hoc aid. In the New Länder ad-hoc aid measures frequently had the form of rescue and restructuring aid for companies in difficulty. The German authorities have never notified such measures for the Ammendorf works.

As the Commission is not aware whether any aid has been granted to the company and under which conditions, it cannot comment on the question whether any subsidies have to be repaid if the works are to be closed down.

In the light of the questions submitted the Commission has requested, in accordance with the EC Treaty provisions on state aid, the German authorities to provide full information on financial support, including support from European programmes, awarded to this company. This information should enable the Commission to determine whether Community rules have been fully observed.