91997E2282

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2282/97 by Nel van Dijk (V) to the Commission (2 July 1997)

Subject: Distortion of competition in Western European ports

Can the Commission confirm that it has received a letter from the Stichting Natuur en Milieu exposing the setting of land prices in the major ports of Western Europe?

Is the Commission aware that the annual rental of certain plots of land is kept low in order to have a favourable impact on the position of the ports compared with competitor ports?

Is the Commission aware that governments endeavour to promote port activities in other ways, too; e.g. the case of the chemical company Arco in Rotterdam which has been connected, at the government's expense, to the pipeline system to Antwerp?

Does the Commission agree that these aid measures result in distortion of competition and that they represent infringement of Article 92 of the Treaty?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (4 September 1997)

The Commission has indeed recently received a letter from the 'Stichting Natuur en Milieu' (Foundation for nature and environment) concerning the level of land prices in certain Community ports.

Low land prices do not necessarily mean that the port operators mentioned in the letter benefit from state aid. Instead the low price level can be due to other factors, such as the demand for the land in question, its utilisation or ownership, or a combination of these factors, and, therefore, each case has to be examined individually in order to establish whether there is aid involved. However, the Commission will request information from the governments concerned on the basis of Articles 92 and 93 of the EC Treaty.

As regards state aid to ports in general, the Commission takes the view that public investment in infrastructure does not constitute aid within the meaning of Article 92 of the EC Treaty, as long as the infrastructure remains open to all users in the public interest on the basis of non-discriminatory access. Public financing of superstructure on the other hand, which is intended for commercial operations of certain companies, would normally fall under Article 92 of the EC Treaty. As far as the question of the pipeline network is concerned, the Commission is not aware of this matter and its relation to the transport objectives of the ports involved. It will, however, ask the Dutch authorities for information regarding the points raised by the Honourable Member.