Violation of the provisions of the TEU and TFEU in the award of a tender for 14 regional airports by the HRADF to Fraport AG-Slentel Ltd
| 1 February 2016 |
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| Question for written answer to the Commission Rule 130 Notis Marias (ECR) |
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The Commission’s answer of 22 December 2015 to my question of 27 August 2015 on the award of a tender for 14 regional airports in Greece by the HRADF to the consortium Fraport AG-Slentel Ltd was inadequate.
It should be noted that this tender award violates the provisions of the TEU and TFEU on free competition and the prohibition of state aid, as we maintained in the above question.
Moreover, during the tender procedure, the relevant provisions of primary and secondary EC law on international competition and conflicts of interest were violated, since Lufthansa Consulting, a subsidiary of Lufthansa AG, carried out consultancy duties vis-à-vis the HRADF in respect of this tender, even though the parent company holds 8.45% of Fraport AG shares.
Will the Commission say what measures it intends to take to ensure:
| 1. | Compliance by the HRADF with EC law and the principle of transparency in the above tender procedure vis-à-vis the consortium Fraport AG-Slentel Ltd in respect of the fourteen regional airports given the above involvement of Lufthansa Consulting? |
| 2. | Compliance with Articles 107 and 108 TFEU prohibiting state aid and Article 102 TFEU prohibiting the abuse of a dominant position by Fraport AG? |
Source: European Parliament
| Answer given by Mr Moscovici on behalf of the Commission | ||||||
| 1. The Commission would like to note again that internal processes were deemed legal by the Court of Auditors of the Hellenic Republic which has approved the deal and the whole tender process(1). Lufthansa Consulting Gmbh was contracted, through an open tender process, by the Hellenic Republic in 2012 as a technical advisor to assist mainly in the preparation of traffic models/predictions for these airports. According to the Expression of Interest, each interested investor/consortium was obliged to confirm in writing that there was no conflict of interest which would in any way affect its ability to provide access to the airports and all premises to all potential users without any discrimination. This was inter alia defined as including having a sizable stake greater than 15% in an airline or a participation in the share capital by an airline of the potential investor(2), the condition which does not seem to be met in the present case.
2. As regards compliance with Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the available information is insufficient to identify the presence of state aid in the proceedings. As regards compliance with Article 102 TFEU, the Commission is not aware of any circumstance which would indicate that Fraport would have engaged in a behaviour that could be considered as an abuse of dominant position.
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