Landesbanken Ġermaniżi

German Landesbanken

German Landesbanken -454 -

German Landesbanken -454 -

550. L-informazzjoni provduta mill-Istati Membri kkonċernati turi li fis-snin reċenti inġabru lura ammonti importanti ta'għajnuna illegali u inkompatibbli. Fl-2005, il-Kummissjoni rċeviet informazzjoni li tiddokumenta l-ġbir lura ta'ammonti sinifikanti li huma relatati ma'għadd limitat ta'deċiżjonijet li ġew adottati fi żmien reċenti, bħad-deċiżjonijiet dwar il-Landesbanken u l-Bull Ġermaniżi. Dawn l-iżviluppi kkontribwew għal titjib sinifikanti fl-istatistiċi ġenerali tal-ġbir lura. Mill-EUR 8.6 biljuni ta'għajnuna li kellha tinġabar lura skond id-deċiżjonijiet adottati sa mill-2000, madwar EUR 8.2 biljuni (ammont prinċipali ta'EUR 6.0 biljuni u kważi EUR 2.2 biljuni f’interessi) kienu effettivament inġabru lura sa l-aħħar ta'l-2005. Esklużi l-interessi, dan jirrappreżenta 71% ta'l-ammont totali li għandu jinġabar lura[344].

627. Information provided by the Member States concerned shows that substantial amounts of illegal and incompatible aid have been recovered in recent years. In 2005, the Commission received information documenting recovery of significant amounts related to a limited number of recently adopted decisions such as the decisions concerning German Landesbanks and Bull. These developments have contributed to a significant improvement in the overall recovery statistics. Of the EUR 8.6 billion of aid to be recovered under decisions adopted since 2000, some EUR 8.2 billion (a principal amount of EUR 6.0 billion and almost EUR 2.2 billion interest) had been effectively recovered by the end of 2005. Excluding interest, this represents 71% of the total amount to be recovered[344].

610. L-informazzjoni disponibbli fil-31 ta'Diċembru 2004 tindika li l-ammont kollu ta'għajnuna li jrid jinġabar lura mill-inqas huwa daqs EUR 9.7 biljun. Dan huwa sinifikanti għax jirrapreżenta madwar 35% ta'l-ammont totali ta'għajnuna mill-Istat mogħtija fil-Komunità fl-2002[394]. Sehem kbir ta'din l-għajnuna huwa minħabba numru limitat ta'deċiżjonijiet ta'ġbir lura li ġew adottati dan l-aħħar, dwar il-Landesbanken Ġermaniżi[395], il-France Telecom[396] u l-EDF[397]. Għal aktar minn 24 każ pendenti ta'ġbir lura, madankollu, l-Istat Membru konċernat għadu ma setax iressaq informazzjoni ta'min joqgħod fuqha dwar l-ammont ta'għajnuna involuta. Id-disponibilità ta'l-informazzjoni dwar l-ammonti li għandhom jinġabru lura huwa limitat b’mod partikolari fil-każijiet ta'skemi ta'għajnuna, speċjalment miżuri ta'għajnuna fiskali jew para-fiskali, u miżuri ta'għajnuna li jinvolvu garanziji.

610. The information available on 31 December 2004 indicates that the total amount of aid to be recovered is equal to at least EUR 9.7 billion. This is significant as it represents about 35% of the total amount of state aid granted in the Community in 2002[394]. A large proportion of this aid is due to a limited number of recently adopted recovery decisions, concerning the German Landesbanken [395], France Télécom[396] and EDF[397]. For more than 24 pending recovery cases, however, the Member State concerned has not yet been able to submit reliable information on the aid amount involved. The availability of information on amounts to be recovered is particularly limited in the case of aid schemes, especially tax or quasi-tax aid measures, and aid measures involving guarantees.

459. Il-Kummissjoni għalhekk stabbiliet li r-remunerazzjoni mnaqqsa tikkostitwixxi għajnuna mill-Istat fit-tifsira ta'l-Artikolu 87(1) tal-KE u ordnat lill-Ġermanja tieħu miżuri ħalli tiġbor lura d-differenza mil-Landesbanken (WestLB: €979 miljun, Landesbank Berlin: €810 miljun, Norddeutsche Landesbank: €472 miljun, Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein: €432 miljun, Hamburgische Landesbank: €91 miljun, Bayerische Landesbank: €260 miljun, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen: €6 miljun, fil-każijiet kollha flimkien ma'l-imgħax).

459. The Commission therefore established that the reduced remuneration constitutes state aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty and ordered Germany to take measures to recover the difference from the Landesbanken (WestLB: EUR 979 million, Landesbank Berlin: EUR 810 million, Norddeutsche Landesbank: EUR 472 million, Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein: EUR 432 million, Hamburgische Landesbank: EUR 91 million, Bayerische Landesbank: EUR 260 million, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen: EUR 6 million, in all cases plus interest).

420. Fis-6 ta'Settembru, il-Kummissjoni awtorizzat żjidiet kapitali li jiswew b’kollox madwar EUR 1.2 biljun mill-azzjonisti pubbliċi tagħhom għal-Landesbanken Ġermaniżi l-HSH Nordbank[248] (EUR 556 miljun) u l-BayernLB[249] (EUR 640 miljun). Iż-żjidiet kapitali kellhom l-għan li jsaħħu l-kapital ċentrali taż-żewġ Landesbanken. Huma seħħu wara l-abolizzjoni tal-mekkaniżmu ta'garanzija tal-liġi pubblika għal-Landesbanken fit-18 ta'Lulju u wara l-ħlas lura ta'l-għajnuna Statali għall-HSH u għall-BayernLB (u ħames Landesbanken oħrajn) li ġew iddikjarati illegali u inkompatibbli mid-deċiżjoni tal-Kummissjoni ta'l-20 ta'Ottubru 2004. Il-Kummissjoni vvalutat jekk il-kapital kienx disponibbli skond termini li investitur privat isib aċċettabbli meta jipprovdi fondi għal intrapriża privata komparabbli, meta l-investitur privat qed jopera f’kondizzjonijiet normali ta'ekonomija tas-suq (jiġifieri l-prinċipju ta'l-investitur f’ekonomija tas-suq). Il-Kummissjoni kkonkludiet li l-profitt mistenni fuq l-investimenti kien tassew konformi ma dak li kieku jaċċetta investitur privat u li għaldaqstant l-investimenti ma kkostitwewx għajnuna Statali.

499. On 6 September, the Commission authorised capital increases worth a total of some EUR 1.2 billion by their public shareholders for the German Landesbanks HSH Nordbank[248] (EUR 556 million) and BayernLB[249] (EUR 640 million). The capital increases were aimed at strengthening the core capital of the two Landesbanks. They occurred after the abolition of the public-law guarantee mechanism for Landesbanks on 18 July and after the repayment of state aid for HSH and BayernLB (and five other Landesbanks) ruled illegal and incompatible by the Commission’s decision of 20 October 2004. The Commission assessed whether the capital was made available on terms which a private investor would find acceptable in providing funds to a comparable private undertaking when the private investor is operating under normal market-economy conditions (i.e. the market economy investor principle). The Commission came to the conclusion that the expected return on the investments was indeed in conformity with what a private investor would accept and that therefore the investments did not constitute state aid.