The European Commission finds that no aid has been granted to the management company of Greek industrial parks ETVA VIPE, according to its announcement today.
“Certain public measures in favor of the industrial park management company “ETVA Industrial Areas SA” do not constitute state aid within the meaning of EU rules,” the Commission emphasizes.
It is recalled that ETVA VIPE is a private company that manages various industrial parks in Greece. It is the successor of a public company, the Hellenic Industrial Development Bank, which was previously responsible for the development and management of the industrial parks in question.
In 2019, the Commission received a complaint from companies operating in industrial park facilities in Greece managed by ETVA VIPE. The subject of the complaint was the allegation that certain public measures taken by Greece constituted illegal state aid.
The Commission assessed the Greek measures, based on EU state aid rules and in particular Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and found the following:
• ETVA VIPE’s ability to impose (i) a management fee and (ii) a reserve establishment fee per industrial park to companies located in the industrial parks under its management does not constitute state aid, since the fees do not amount to state resources during meaning of article 107 paragraph 1 of the TFEU.
• The ability of ETVA VIPE to impose sanctions (e.g. interruption of access to water supply) to companies located in the industrial parks under its management, which do not meet their financial obligations towards ETVA VIPE, does not involve the transfer of public funds and, therefore, it does not constitute State aid.
• The possibility of ETVA VI.PE. (i) to charge companies established in the industrial parks under its management for common costs beyond their actual consumption and (ii) to calculate the relevant management fee as a percentage of the common costs, does not constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 107 paragraph 1 of the TFEU, since it cannot be considered an advantage granted by the state.
• The rejection, by the Greek authorities, of the application of certain companies to take over the management of a building complex located in one of the industrial parks managed by ETVA VIPE does not imply a transfer of public funds and, therefore, does not constitute state aid.
Based on the above, the Commission found that the measures do not constitute State aid within the meaning of EU law.
Source: RES-MPE
Source: Capital
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