Brussels, 31/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 31 July, the European Commission concluded that certain aid measures that the Walloon Region granted to Val Saint-Lambert SA (VSL) (which has been in liqudiation since October 2013) conferred on the company an undue economic advantage over its competitors, and must be repaid.
The Commission opened an in-depth investigation in February 2013. The investigation revealed that the sale of VSL real estate involved measures granted by SOGEPA (a public holding company wholly owned by the Walloon Region) to VSL: a loan guarantee, the assignment and exclusive use of the “Val Saint Lambert” brand, a loan, a €1 billion bailout, the sale of VSL real estate to a public body and funding of works to clean up pollution. Of these, only the bailout loan was notified to the Commission. The Commission says that the real estate sale did not involve state aid because it was sold on market terms, but all the other measures were concluded on terms that no private investor would have accepted. The Commission says they therefore conferred an undue economic advantage on VSL over competitors that had to operate without this public support. Consequently, the measures constitute state aid within the meaning of the EU rules.
The Commission says the unlawful aid must be repaid with interest, but it did not indicate any figures. In a separate decision, the Commission said that the repayment requirement would not be imposed on the businessman who has bought some of the liquidated company's assets “owing to the absence of economic continuity with VSL in view of the limited extent of the assets purchased”. (FG)