Brussels, 26/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 26 January, the European Commission reached the conclusion that a French plan to grant tax aid to insurers for managing certain supplementary sickness insurance policies (“contrats solidaires” and “contrats responsables”) is not compatible with EU rules on state aid. Its investigation, opened in 2007, showed that final consumers would only be indirect beneficiaries of the aid, with insurance companies directly benefiting. The aid also risked creating discrimination in favour of the incumbents, such as mutual societies and welfare institutions. Since the aid has not been applied, there is no need for any recovery.
Another state aid that was deemed illegal was the German so-called reorganisation clause, or “Sanierungsklausel”, under German corporate tax law that enables an ailing company to offset losses in a given year against profits in future years despite changes in its shareholder structure, something robust companies do not enjoy. Since the Commission has not been notified of the measure, Germany has two months to inform the Commission of the list of the beneficiaries and of the total amount of aid to be recovered.
The Commission has authorised support of some €54.6 million which Sweden intends to grant to the Domsjö research and development (R&D) project. Domisjö Febriker AB, a Swedish pulp producer, will develop a demonstration plant for the production of bio-methanol and other biofuels from pulp mill residue material. These second generation biofuels will replace traditional fuel in the transport sector, thereby helping to reduce Europe's dependence on fossil fuels and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
France has been authorised to provide a €26 million direct grant for the construction of a district heating network in the North-East of Paris. The aid will be granted to CPCU, a subsidiary of GDF Suez and the current holder of the district heating concession in Paris. GDF Suez has seen its concession extended by seven years until 2024, in order to allow it to recoup the total investment of €170 million in the network. The French authorities have committed to tender the concession anew in 2024 or operate it directly as of then.
The Commission has authorised Spain to grant an interest-free reimbursable loan of €129 million to AERNNOVA for the development of the next-generation horizontal tail plane of the future Airbus A350 XWB. The subsidy in the form of a foregone interest rate is estimated at €37.4 million. (F.G./transl.rt)