Brussels, 28/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 27 June, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to establish whether the compensation received by Société Nationale Corse-Méditerranée (SNCM) and Compagnie Maritime de Navigation (CMN) for operating the sea routes between Corsica and Marseilles are in line with EU state aid rules.
At this stage, the Commission does not rule out that the public service compensation received by these undertakings could give them an unfair advantage over their competitors in the internal market, in breach of the EU rules on services of general economic interest (SGEI). The public service obligation encompasses both the basic service (permanent passenger and freight service) and the additional service (passenger service provided for traffic peaks during holiday periods and the summer season). The French authorities are being asked to demonstrate that there is a real public service need and that the additional service cannot be ensured by market forces alone. The Commission also questions whether the parameters of the compensation scheme were pre-determined objectively and transparently. If the Commission concludes that the compensation constitutes state aid as defined by European competition law, it will then examine the compatibility of the aid with the rules on SGEI. (OL/transl.fl)