Brussels approves of modifications to the Finnish program of support to the investments in less polluting ships

Under way

the EU commission has approved of the modifications to a program of support to the investments in less polluting ships in vigor in Finland that preview incentives to the shipowners for use it of ships that respect the new standards on the sulfur tenor of the fuel for marine use that they have been fixed from the European Union with the directive n. 33 of 21 November 2012 and that they will take effect 1° January 2015 in the areas SECA (Sulphur Emission Control Areas), between which the English Channel, the Sea of the North and the Baltic Sea( of September 11 2012).

"the Finnish program - it has emphasized the vice president of the EU commission and commissioner to the Competition, Joaquín Almunia - demonstrates as the current norms on the aids of State can be used in order to encourage the marine industry to still adopt norms on the atmosphere severeer before their effectiveness".

the modifications to the Finnish program, that it will have effect until 31 December 2014, preview aids in order to finance the acquisition of new ships among other things or in order to modernize old ships so that they respect the next standards EU on the sulfur tenor in the fuel.

the pronunciamento of Brussels could be translate in an oxygen puff for navalmeccanica company STX Finland of the group STX Europe that must find store clerks for own ship yards of put Turku and Rauma in knee from the recent loss of the order for the construction of a third ship from cruise of class "Oasis" that the American company Royal Caribbean Cruises has assigned to STX France Cruise, the division of the group STX Europe that is participated by the French State(

of 28 December 2012). The loss of the store clerk has primed a controversy on the financings which it has approached STX France, that it is participated by the French State through the quota the 33.3% of the vital prisoner from Fonds Stratégique d' Investissement (FSI) (the remaining 66.6% is in the hands of STX Europe), while the demand for STX Finland of having a financing of 50 million euros in order to finance the construction of the ship and to make sure the store clerk is not fulfilled by the government of Helsinki. The measure decided from the Finnish executive in order to support the section has been instead the appropriation of 28,3 million euros which aids to the innovation in naval field. Currently STX Finland is constructing a ship from cruise for the TUI Cruises, joint venture between German TUI and the Royal Caribbean Cruises, to which 5 september will at the end follow a second ship for the same tidy company last year(the 27of 2011 and November 2012). The first construction for TUI Cruises makes use of a Finnish public aid to the innovation for 16 million euros, figure that altogether elevates to 44 million euros the allocated aids to the innovation from the government of Helsinki.

In order to find solutions to the naval shipbuilding crisis of the national one, some days before the Finnish government has constituted a presided working team from the former president and managing director of the group Wärtsilä Corporation, Ole Johansson, that it will have the task to estimate the impact to regional and national level in the short and long term of the restructure of the navalmeccanico section on the economy. The working team, than however will not take care of the crisis of STX Finland, will have to formulate proposed in order to increase the competitiveness of the field within the half of next March.

While the EU commission has decided to start an investigation on the aids publics for beyond 180 million euros granted between 2006 and 2012 in Portugal to the ship yard public Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo (ENVC), that it is the greatest navalmeccanico plant of the Iberian nation, in order to verify if they are consistent to the norms EU on the aids of State. Brussels has perceived the Portugal that also the new measures previewed for ENVC in the context of the privatization of the company could constitute aids of State and has exhorted the government of Lisbon to notify such measures to the Commission before their performance.