EU Takes Spain To Court Over Discriminatory Harbor Dues

Published: 16 Oct 2008 23:22:53 PST

BRUSSELS -- The European Commission Thursday said it was taking Spain to the European Court of Justice for discriminatory harbor dues which subsidize ships docking at the Spanish islands.

Harbor dues charged on ships sailing to or from the Canary Islands, the Balearics or Ceuta and Melilla are lower than those levied on traffic between ports on the Spanish mainland and ports elsewhere in the European Union, the commission said.

Such subsidies are against the European laws on a single market, and can only be justified on the basis of public interest, the commission said.

Spain has in the past argued that it keeps the harbor fees lower for the islands on the grounds of local development.

-By Peppi Kiviniemi, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 (0)2 741 1483; peppi.kiviniemi@dowjones.com