“The investigation concerns one of the proposals submitted to the public tender for the Design and Construction of the Odivelas-Loures Light Surface Metro – Violet Line,” explained the Lisbon Metro in a statement, clarifying that the tender it launched is not targeted.
The European Commission has today opened a thorough investigation to determine whether the Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC, part of the Mota-Engil consortium, had “an undue advantage” in the Lisbon Metro’s Violet Line tender.
Brussels announced in a statement 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, in the district of Lisbon.
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 a thorough investigation.”
The investigation now seeks to assess whether such subsidies gave the company an undue advantage in the tender and, depending on the findings, the EU executive may impose corrective measures, prohibit the contract awarding, or issue a no-objection decision.
The Lisbon Metro assured “full cooperation with the investigation,” as well as compliance with the relevant regulations, emphasizing that this allows all procedural steps of the public procurement to “continue, except for the contract awarding,” the company’s note further reads.
