Memo: State aid: Commission welcomes Court judgment on French State intervention in France Télécom

The European Commission welcomes a judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union in joined cases C-399/10 P and C-401/10 P, regarding a shareholder declaration and loan carried out by the French State in favour of the national telecommunication incumbent France Télécom.

In particular, the Court of Justice invalidated the General Court's (GC) findings of May 2010 (case T-425/04) that the public declaration of support for France Télécom by the Minister for economic affairs and the subsequent shareholder loan by the French State did not entail a transfer of State resources – and thus did not constitute state aid.

The Court of Justice found that the General Court wrongly required a close connection between the advantage and the commitment of State resources. Although this loan was not taken up by France Télécom, it conferred an advantage granted through State resources that could potentially have burdened the State budget. The Commission was therefore right to qualify that advantage as state aid in favour of France Télécom.

The judgment clarifies the position with regard to EU state aid rules of a State that intervenes in favour of a company of which it is also the owner. The case has been sent back to the General Court, which will have to rule on the other aspects of the case that it had not dealt with when it annulled the Commission decision.

ESO: Background Information: Judgment in Joined Cases T-425/04, T-444/04, T-450/04 and T-456/04. France and Others v Commission http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-judgment-in-joined-cases-t-425-04-t-444-04-t-450-04-and-t-456-04-france-and-others-v-commission/

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