Brussels, 25th November 1998

The European Commission has adopted a decision formally requiring the Italian Government to provide it with the information it needs in order to adopt a final decision on the compatibility with the common market of aid granted by the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Italian Government to Seleco SpA (Pordenone), a company which operated on the consumer electronics market (colour TV sets, decoders, projectors and monitors) and was declared bankrupt on 17 April 1997.

Seleco SpA, based at Pordenone (Italy) in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, was active in the consumer electronics business and, over the last ten years, has regularly received aid (to the tune of ITL 98.5 billion, or ECU 50.8 million) from the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Italian Government. The Italian authorities notified only assistance amounting to ITL 13 billion (ECU 6.7 million), granted by the regional finance corporation Friuli SpA. That assistance, together with the non-notified aid, prompted the Commission to initiate proceedings in 1994 under Article 93(2) of the EC Treaty. In early 1996, as the Commission was preparing to bring those proceedings to an end by adopting a partially negative decision, it came across press reports stating that other operations involving public corporations had substantially modified the structure of the Seleco group. It immediately asked the Italian authorities for more detailed information on these new public support measures.

In February 1998, not satisfied with the responses received, the Commission notified the Italian Government that it had decided to extend the Article 93(2) proceedings to all aid measures adopted so far. The Italian Government did not react to that decision, and the Commission has still not received the information requested, despite having sent the Italian authorities a reminder in July 1998 threatening to issue an injunction should they fail to respond.

It was only in September 1998 that the Italian authorities formally notified the Commission that Seleco SpA had been declared bankrupt by the Italian courts on 17 April 1997. In response to that notification, the Commission asked the Italian Government further questions concerning the liquidation procedure following the declaration of Seleco's bankruptcy. The Italian Government replied that it was unable to supply the information requested within the two-week deadline imposed by the Commission. The Commission has received only some of the information and does not have all the necessary data for bringing the proceedings to an end.

The Commission has therefore taken a decision formally requiring the Italian Government to supply it with all the information it needs in order to adopt a final decision on all the aid granted to Seleco SpA.

Source:
RAPID
11 / 11 /1998