Brussels, April 21, 2026 (Lusa) - The European Commission authorised the Lisbon Metro on Tuesday to proceed with its tender for the construction of the Violet line (a new light rail project).
This follows the withdrawal of a Chinese company from the Mota-Engil-led consortium after an investigation into "unfair subsidies" worth billions of euros.
In a statement released in Brussels on Tuesday, the commission said it "authorised the Lisbon Metro to move forward with the award of the contract for the design and construction of Lisbon's Violet metro line, subject to conditions under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, after a change by the consortium that avoids any distortion."
The approval comes after the Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC (China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation) left the Mota-Engil consortium.
Polish company PESA replaced CRRC after a European Commission investigation confirmed the Chinese firm received "unfair subsidies in the order of billions," according to European sources who told Lusa.
The commission’s statement said the Lisbon Metro, "as the contracting entity, can now award the contract to the bidder with the most economically advantageous proposal."
The list of bidders includes a consortium led by Mota-Engil, which can continue "as long as all commitments made by this consortium, as defined in the Commission's decision, are fully met," the institution warned, promising to monitor the case.
The Lisbon Metro launched the tender for the Violet line in April 2025. The European Commission began an investigation last November to check if CRRC’s Portuguese subsidiary had an unfair advantage by receiving illegal foreign subsidies.
"The in-depth investigation confirmed these preliminary findings, revealing that the subsidies in question effectively gave the consortium an unfair competitive advantage, to the detriment of other competitors and the integrity of the European Union's internal market," the commission said in Tuesday's press release.
While the commission approved the consortium’s participation, the Lisbon Metro will make the final decision on the contract.
The EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which took effect on 12 July 2023, aims to ensure fair competition within the internal market by preventing financial support from third countries from distorting competition between companies.
The rules require companies to notify Brussels when participating in major EU public tenders worth at least €250 million (excluding VAT) and if participants - including main subcontractors and suppliers - received foreign financial contributions of at least €4 million per country in the previous three years prior to the notification.
This was the first investigation under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
The tender for the construction of Lisbon Metro's Violet line is part of the network expansion project to connect Loures and Odivelas (municipalities in the Lisbon metropolitan area) and improve mobility in the northern zone, with completion estimated for the end of the decade.
ANE/LYT // ADB.
Lusa
