Brussels, 14/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is to decide to expand the inquiry it opened on 17 September on the company Alstom, by including additional aid of 1.1 billion EUR. This took the form of a loan of 900 million EUR over 15 years, and a line of credit of 200 million. This additional aid was the subject of a lively debate two weeks ago, as the Commission said that this was new aid whereas according to France, this was part of the package notified after the compromise of 22 September.
Commissioner Monti's spokesperson, Tilman Lueder, also confirmed that the Commission was to hire an independent expert to help with the inquiry. The opinion of an independent expert is almost always required in this type of dossier, due to the technical complexities, said Mr Lueder, who announced the publication of a call for tenders in this Tuesday's Official Journal.
In an interview with French daily Le Monde on 14 October, Commissioner Monti indicated that a decision on Alstom would take at least six months, "at least, because the procedure is so complex". The Commissioner also stressed that "the climate of co-operation with the French authorities is extremely constructive, both at the level of my relations with Mr Mer and between the services. This will be helpful". Mr Monti specified that the assessment on the viability and counterparts "will, of course, be at the centre of the analysis", an examination "which is the more important as it will also allow us to guarantee that taxpayers' money is not systematically being wasted preserving business activities which cannot survive".