Brussels, 09/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is requiring that €642 million paid out in illegal state aid to French company Sernam, a former subsidiary of the railway incumbent SNCF specialising in logistics and transport, be repaid to the French state.
An in-depth investigation confirmed the allegations made in several complaints to the Commission that in violation of a decision taken in 2004, Sernam had failed to repay €41 million received in illegal state aid when the company was privatised, which had not met the required criteria. The €503 million restructuring aid was not authorised by the European Commission, which has the power to oversee respect of the EU state aid rules, and was therefore illegal. In addition, the privatisation was accompanied by further aid from public rail company SNCF, which provided Sernam with €57 million in capital, wrote off debts of €38.5 million and provided guarantees worth €3 million. (FG/transl.fl)