Brussels, Nov. 5, 2025 (Lusa) - The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation on Wednesday into whether the Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC, part of the Mota-Engil consortium, had "an undue advantage" in the tender for the Lisbon Metro's purple line.
"The Commission has today opened an in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation into possible market distortions caused by foreign subsidies. The investigation will examine whether these subsidies gave the Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC an undue advantage in participating in a public tender for the purchase of light railway vehicles in Portugal," the institution announced in a statement.
Brussels said that the investigation follows a notification from a consortium led by Mota-Engil, which includes subcontractors such as Portugal CRRC Tangshan Rolling Stock Unipessoal, and participated in a Lisbon Metro tender launched in April 2025 for the design, construction and maintenance of the new violet line, which will connect Odivelas to Loures.
According to the European Commission, there are "sufficient indications that Portugal CRRC Tangshan Rolling Stock Unipessoal may have benefited from foreign subsidies that distorted the internal market, justifying an in-depth investigation".
The investigation now aims to assess whether such subsidies gave the company an undue advantage in the tender and, depending on the conclusions, the EU executive may impose corrective measures, prohibit the award of the contract or issue a non-objection decision.
"This demonstrates the Commission's determination to ensure fair competition and a level playing field in the EU," the executive said.
According to the government, the contract for the Lisbon Metro's purple line will be awarded in December 2025.
In a July statement, Metro de Lisboa said it had received four bids for the tender to construct the Violet Line, with Mota-Engil submitting the lowest price.
The tender for the Violet Line contract was launched by the Lisbon Metro on 15 April, with a base price of €600 million, plus VAT.
The consortium, composed of Mota Engil, Engenharia e Construção, S.A./Zagope - Construções e Engenharia, S.A./Spie Batignolles Internacional - Sucursal em Portugal, proposed a construction cost of €598.8 million.
This investment is part of the expansion of the Lisbon Metro network and is scheduled for completion in 2029.
The Violet Line, 11.5 kilometres long, includes 17 stations: nine in the municipality of Loures (which will serve the parishes of Loures, Santo António dos Cavaleiros and Frielas, for a total length of around 6.4 kilometres) and eight in the municipality of Odivelas (to serve the parishes of Póvoa de Santo Adrião and Olival de Basto, Odivelas, Ramada and Caneças), for a total length of around 5.1 kilometres.
The stations will be of different types: 12 surface stations, three underground stations and two trench stations.
The first public tender for the Violet Line contract was launched on 15 March 2024 and resulted in the exclusion of all bids submitted by economic operators that exceeded the basic tender price by an average of around 46%.
ANE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
