Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-08-Speech-1-157"
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"en.20100208.15.1-157"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, the debate has touched on a range of issues, some of which are topics of discussion for the next Commission, in my opinion. The discussion will undoubtedly be very profound, covering the overall concept of industrial policy, the overall concept of State aid and other issues as well.
As far as the case raised here is concerned, in other words, the Opel case, it does not involve industrial policy as such. It is clear that the Commission has room for manoeuvre within the framework of the treaty. I think I can state with some satisfaction that the Commission has so far made use of all the possibilities open to it under the treaty and has made use of them even in ways that were not entirely conventional. I could mention the two meetings planned by my colleague, Günter Verheugen, where Member States discussed the situation as it stood and, to some extent, this undoubtedly enabled a coordinated approach. The assessment of plans
was similarly unconventional. I have to say that the structure of EU law does not offer a form of solid legal basis for such approaches. Despite this, in view of the importance of the issue, it was used.
As far as the issue of State aid is concerned, no State aid has been negotiated so far, no state has been proposed and it is up to the Commission to assess finally whether State aid is being provided within the framework of the rules. I firmly believe that the procedure here must be as strict as possible, because we cannot allow such a serious decision to be motivated by factors of a non-economic nature and for a situation to come about where, instead of competition between companies, we have states competing to offer the largest subsidies. From this perspective, the Commission will assess the plan for State aid very strictly, as well as all of the circumstances connected with the State aid, of course.
In my last speech about three months ago, I stressed that we were doing everything to ensure compliance with all of the rules over employee consultations. This is what we did and this is what we continue to do. We will not hesitate in the meantime to adopt all the measures which the legal structure of the European Commission affords us. I believe that my successor will be no less strict in this.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that this case opens up a whole series of questions which must be discussed and I also believe that the Commission has a duty to make the best use of all available options in this area.
I would like to stress one final thing which I mentioned earlier in my introductory speech: if any employees are laid off – and it has been mentioned in the debate here that General Motors is considering laying off around 8 000 to 10 000 employees – then the impact of this affair will undoubtedly reach beyond Antwerp. The Commission is again using and mobilising all of the instruments at its disposal which are useful in such a case. This includes the European Social Fund and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.
We will make every effort to ensure that this matter is decided on as quickly as possible. Parliament has an active role here of course, because the proposals put forward by the Commission can become a reality only after they have been discussed by Parliament.
Ladies and gentlemen, all EU aid must first be directed at people and not at companies, and that is also a fundamental framework for all of our decision making."@en1
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