91997E4101

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4101/97 by Christine Crawley (PSE) to the Commission (16 January 1998)

Subject: Alleged state aid in favour of Italian Jewellery manufacturers

Can the Commission explain why Italian Jewellery manufacturers are allegedly receiving favourable tax treatment which result in their selling to European customers jewellery at low prices which represent the gold content alone and do not include such costs as available levels of finance, distribution and selling?

Would the Commission also provide information on the Italian Government's alleged agreement with jewellery manufacturers which allows them to write off a percentage of weight of gold they process, irrespective of whether this gold is lost or not? Is this not unfairly discriminating against jewellery manufacturers in other EU Member States?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (3 February 1998)

By fax received on 17 October 1997, the Honourable Member first brought to the attention of the Commission allegations made by a British jewellery firm against its Italian competitors who are supposedly benefiting from favourable tax treatment and other public support. According to the complainant, part of this information comes from articles in the jewellery press.

On 23 October 1997, the Commission wrote to the Honourable Member explaining that after a scrutiny of the alleged measures, it appeared that the information provided was not sufficiently detailed to allow the Commission to further investigate this issue. The Honourable Member was therefore invited to ask her correspondent to submit a detailed description of the alleged unfair state aid measures as well as a copy of the press articles in question.

To date, this additional information has not been received by the Commission.