92/129/EEC: Commission Decision of 24 April 1991 on aid granted by the Italian Government to the forestry, pulp, paper and board industry and financed by means of levies on paper, board and cellulose (Only the Italian text is authentic)

• Published date: 22 February 1992
• Official Gazette Publication: Diario Oficial de las Comunidades Europeas, L 47, 22 de febrero de 1992,Gazzetta ufficiale delle Comunità europee, L 47, 22 febbraio 1992,Journal officiel des Communautés européennes, L 47, 22 février 1992

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31992D0129

92/129/EEC: Commission Decision of 24 April 1991 on aid granted by the Italian Government to the forestry, pulp, paper and board industry and financed by means of levies on paper, board and cellulose (Only the Italian text is authentic)

Official Journal L 047 , 22/02/1992 P. 0019 - 0025

COMMISSION DECISION of 24 April 1991 on aid granted by the Italian Government to the forestry, pulp, paper and board industry and financed by means of levies on paper, board and cellulose (Only the Italian text is authentic) (92/129/EEC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof,

Having given notice in accordance with the above Article to interested parties to submit their comments, and having regard to those comments,

Whereas:

I

The Ente nazionale per la cellulose e per la carta (ENCC) is a corporation under public law consisting of all producers of paper and cellulose as well as undertakings using cellulose in Italy. It was founded by Law No 1453 of 13 June 1935.

The ENCC has the statutory task of promoting the development of cellulose production in Italy; of facilitating the production and use of indigenous raw materials for the production of cellulose; of organizing the production and sale of paper; of collecting and providing information concerning the production of cellulose and paper. The ENCC also channels aid linked, inter alia, to their consumption of newsprint, to publishers, notably to the press.

The ENCC's activities are financed partly by means of levies charged on home-produced cellulose and on certain types of paper and board, as well as on similar imported products, and partly by means of funds provided directly by the Italian Government and earmarked for publishers.

The conditions on which aid is granted through ENCC have repeatedly been altered. The Commission accepted these alterations only after verifying their compatibility with the common market.

Thus, in November 1974, the Commission closed the procedure provided for in Article 93 (2) in respect of the ENCC's activities after being assured by the Italian Government that aid to consumers of Italian newsprint and newsprint imported by the ENCC would also be granted to publishers who import newsprint directly from other Member States; that no aid would be granted for publications in languages other than Italian if such publications were to be exported; that research into paper-making would no longer be financed by the levy on imports from other Member States. In its letter to the Italian Government dated 20 November 1974, the Commission stated that, through these modifications, the aid had become compatible with the provisions in the Treaty concerning State aid.

On 16 June 1976 the Commission adopted Decision 76/574/EEC (1) on a new aid scheme for the press (Law No 172 of 6 June 1975), requiring the Italian Government to publish a notice stating that the aid would be granted without distinction for paper purchased from the ENCC or imported directly.

In November 1983 the Commission decided to close the Article 93 (2) procedure which it had opened in April 1982 in respect of yet a further aid scheme in favour of publishers operated via the ENCC (Law No 416 of 5 August 1981). The procedure was closed following the Italian Government's statement that aid measures for newsprint production in southern Italy had not been included in the Law and that aid measures in favour of cultural publications were subject to restrictions which would prevent any alteration of trading conditions in the Community to an extent contrary to the common interest.

On 3 May 1989 the Commission adopted Decision 90/215/EEC (2) on aid granted by the Italian Government to the newsprint industry. In its Decision the Commission demanded that this aid be abolished immediately. The Decision was communicated to the Italian Government by letter dated 7 June 1989.

The activities of the ENCC have led to several legal actions that allowed the Court of Justice to rule on the compatibility with the common market of various aspects of these activities: see Judgment 77/72 of 19 June 1973 (Capolongo) (3), Judgment 94/74 of 18 June 1975 (IGAV) (4) and Judgment 74/76 of 22 March 1977 (Ianelli and Volpi) (5).

II

When the Commission was investigating the misuse of aid schemes by the ENCC, which led to Decision 90/215/EEC, it also requested information by letter dated 7 July 1988 on the levies on cellulose, paper and cardboard and the use of the proceeds of these levies by the ENCC.

The Italian Government submitted this information to the Commission by letter dated 24 November 1988. The information enabled the Commission to consider that the aid to the forestry, pulp, paper and board industry and the measures to promote certain activities in the timber industry, including research into paper-making, could still be considered eligible for exemption under Article 92 (3) (c) of the Treaty, were it not that the levies which financed the aid also applied to imports from other Member States. This created additional and unnecessary protection which rendered the aid incompatible with the common market. The Commission furthermore noted that cellulose, paper and board intended for export are exempted from the levy; when paper products are exported, the levy paid on their paper input is refunded. The Commission considered that such exemptions and refunds constitute production aid for exporting companies, which is incompatible with the common market.

By letter dated 14 March 1990, the Commission therefore proposed the following appropriate measures to the Italian Government, pursuant to Article 93 (1):

- goods imported from other Member States should no longer be subject to the levies with which the operations of the ENCC are financed,

- no aid should be awarded to the Italian cellulose, paper and board industry in the form of an exemption from the levy on exports to other Member States of cellulose, paper and board and a refund on exports to other Member States of paper products.

In this letter the Commission also stressed that its position regarding the Italian aid and levies was identical to the one it had previously taken with respect to French aids financed by means of parafiscal levies in the paper, foundry and mechanical engineering industries.

The Italian Government replied to the Commission's proposal by letter of 15 June 1990 containing various legal and economic observations and arguments as to why the measures proposed by the Commission had not been implemented...