Brussels, 09/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 7 November, the European Commission announced that it had reached the conclusion that Estonian aid in favour of its national airline, Estonian Air, had given the company an undue advantage, in breach of EU rules.
Estonian Air must therefore pay back the aid it received which, according to the information provided by the Commission, stands at around €85 million (plus interest) and it will not be entitled to receive additional restructuring aid of €40 million.
The Commission notes that Estonian Air has been in deficit every year since 2006. The Commission's in-depth analysis showed that the repeated public support measures had not allowed the company to return to viability and failed to limit competition distortions brought about by the aid.
The aid in question concerns a State capital injection of €17.9 million in November 2010, a capital injection of €30 million (in two instalments in December 2011 and March 2012), a rescue loan facility of €37 million in several instalments between December 2012 and November 2014 and a planned additional capital increase of €40.7 million. Amongst other things, the Commission's guidelines state that companies may only receive rescue and/or restructuring aid every 10 years. The Commission also notes that Estonian Air did not have a credible restructuring plan which was able to guarantee its return to viability without the continued support of the state. Lastly, the plan did not contain sufficient measures to limit the competition distortions brought about by the state support. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)