Brussels, 17/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - Thanks to an “ingenious legal arrangement”, France has saved the nation-wide courier company Sernam from having to repay state aid totalling €642 million. This is despite the ruling of the General Court of the EU which has just, on Thursday 17 December, ordered that money to be recovered (case T-242/12).
The legal saga of state aid granted by France to Sernam, a former subsidiary of French national railways (SNCF), a specialist in delivery and transport services that was privatised in 2005, goes back to 2001. It was at that time that the European Commission conditionally gave initial authorisation for restructuring aid of €503 million in favour of Sernam. Complex developments then ensued leading to further Commission decisions, which had to be called “Sernam 2”, then “Sernam 3”, etc.
On Thursday 17 December, the General Court dismissed the SNCF appeal and upheld the 2012 Commission decision for the recovery of €642 million (plus interest) in state aid paid to Sernam (see EUROPE 10571) by virtue of its having been implemented inappropriately. The aid, however, is unrecoverable and the Court ruling changes nothing. The reason is that France has been “very smart” and has put in place “an ingenious legal arrangement”, a Court of Justice official told EUROPE.
On 31 January 2012, Sernam filed for bankruptcy and some of its assets were taken over by the Geodis group. Geodis operates in the same sphere of activity as Sernam, delivery and express transport, and belongs to SNCF (the French state is the sole shareholder), as did Sernam when the illegal state aid was granted.
Today, an asterisk has been attached to the Court ruling, referring back to a Commission decision of April 2012 that stated that, in the event of liquidation of Sernam, there would be no economic continuity between the Sernam group and whoever takes over from it. This means that no one can be pursued for recovery of the contested state aid. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)