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Notiziario Marketpress di
Giovedì 02 Dicembre 2004
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STATE AIDS: COMMISSION OPENS FORMAL INVESTIGATION INTO UK NUCLEAR DECOMMISSIONING AUTHORITY |
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Brussels, 2St December 2004 - The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to check whether the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (Nda) by the United Kingdom complies with the Ec Treaty rules requiring that state aids should not distort or threaten to distort competition. The Nda is due to be established as of 1st April 2005 as a non-departmental public body in charge of managing most of the nuclear liabilities of the public sector in the country. Assets belonging to British Nuclear Fuels Limited (Bnfl) will be transferred to the Nda who will take on financial responsibility for the attached liabilities. Nda will also take financial responsibility for liabilities at the Uk’s Atomic Energy Authority (Aea) sites. The Nda will be responsible for managing the decommissioning of these assets. In this process, Bnfl will be split in two parts. The first part, which comprises such assets as the Sellafield Mox Plant or the Magnox nuclear stations, will be transferred to the Nda. The second one, which comprises in particular Bnfl’s subsidiary Westinghouse, will continue normal commercial operations in a smaller, possibly renamed company. The transfer of the first part to the Nda will be done at no cost to Bnfl, that will continue normal commercial operations, although this transfer will relieve it from nuclear liabilities that it should normally have met under the “polluter pays” principle. The Commission considers at that stage of its analysis that this advantage provided by the Uk Government is likely to be State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Ec Treaty. State aid is in principle forbidden by the Ec Treaty, but it can be authorised by the Commission provided it can be clearly proved that the negative impact of the aid on trading conditions is outweighed by its positive contribution to the fulfilment of other Community objectives. In view of the complexity and the novelty of the case, as well as the importance of the sums involved, the Commission decided that an in-depth enquiry would be necessary in order to analyse the balance of the positive and negative aspects of the aid. This in-depth enquiry will allow the Commission to judge, in particular, whether the contribution of the setting up of the Nda to the achievement of the Euratom Treaty’s objectives outweighs the impact of the aid on the internal market. The process of enquiry requires the details of the project to be published in the Official Journal, allowing interested third parties to provide the Commission with their comments on the project. The Commission will also hear the detailed views of the United Kingdom authorities on the impact of the aid on competition, before it comes to a final decision. Until the Commission reaches this final decision, the United Kingdom authorities will put in place a transitory regime during which the Nda will be able to initiate its operations. This regime will not provide State aid to Bnfl. The launching of the in-depth enquiry does not prejudge in any way the Commission’s final decision.
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