Opening of inquiry into price of fuel used to heat glasshouses

The EU Commission has decided to open an inquiry into the reduced excise duties applied to fuels used to heat glasshouses in Italy. Glasshouse producers benefit from an additional reduction compared to other operators in the agricultural sector. Due to a lack of information from the Italian authorities it has still not been possible to quantify how much aid is involved, but the scheme appears to be of long standing. At this stage, this seems difficult to justify under the rules on State aid. After receiving official notification of today's decision the Italian authorities will have one month in which to notify their observations and provide all necessary clarification. The decision will also be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities and other interested parties will have one month from the date of publication to transmit their observations. These will be passed on to Italy, which will be able to comment on them. Once it has received the clarification requested from the Italian authorities and any contributions from interested parties and Italy's comments on these, the Commission will rule as soon as possible on the compatibility of the aid with the common market.