EU subsidies for ghost ports

27.9.2016

Question for written answer E-007130-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Joëlle Bergeron (EFDD)

According to a recent report by the Court of Auditors, the EU has invested massively, in the Member States, in port infrastructure which is never used (Belgian newspaper ‘De Standaard’ of Saturday, 24 September).

For instance, the EU subsidised the Spanish port of Campamento San Roque to the tune of EUR 16.5 million in order to build additional infrastructure in the hope that containers could be handled in this port.

It turns out, according to the Court of Auditors, that this infrastructure has never been used.

A similar case was found in Augusta, a small port in Sicily, which received EUR 3.8 million in subsidies from the Commission. The Court of Auditors has noted that no port activities are taking place there.

— Can the Commission confirm the content of the Court of Auditors' report?— How is it possible that the Commission subsidised these ports without any follow-up to check what tangible economic results had been achieved by those subsidies?— Will the Commission ask the Member States which took advantage of these subsidies to pay them back?