Βy L. Karageorgos
Greece’s influential ship owners’ union and the Greek government this week emphasized, in a letter to the EU Commission’s competition authority, that tax breaks should not be construed as a state subsidy, which in any case does not affect internal EU competition.
Both sides also stressed that even if a tax break regime in the seaborne shipping sector is considered a form of subsidization, the latter is compatible with European law and the Commission’s guidelines on such subsidies.
Greek shipping interests still control the biggest chuck of ocean-going shipping, in terms of transport capacity, and any roll-back of tax breaks extended by Athens to Greece-based companies and Greek-flagged operators would have a negative effect on the country’s revenues. On a pan-European setting, ship owners and operators have warned that the Commission’s recent rulings bode ill for European shipping as a whole.
The shipowners’ union on Tuesday released a circular by Union president Thedoros Veniamis briefing members on the course of contacts between Athens and the Commission on the issue. He noted that the Commission’s competition general directorate began a probe in August 2012 on the tonnage tax regime followed by Athens, based on its Maritime State Aid Guidelines.
The latter guidelines were instituted some 25 years ago to prevent the loss of vessels and transport capacity from fleeing EU member-states.
