Luxembourg, 13/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Court of Justice has ruled against Greece for not having taken all the measures necessary for repayment of the aid granted to Olympic Airways. The Commission found the aid was incompatible with the common market, a Court press release states (see also the Commission's reaction in yesterday's EUROPE, p.10). The European judges believe the adoption by the Greek authorities of a decision to recover the sum of EUR 41 million, paid out as aid for restructuring the company, had not brought about any effective repayment of that sum. The Greek government has “not shown why it might be absolutely impossible to proceed with recovery” of this or any other “operating” aid. In a decision of 11 December 2002, the Commission had considered that the following aid, in addition to the EUR 41 million in aid, was illegal: - EUR 2.46 million in the form of non-payment or deferment of the payment dates of VAT on aircraft fuel and spare parts, rent payable to airports for the period 1998-2001; EUR 33.9 million in airport charges owed to Spata Airport; and a tax imposed on passengers on departure from all Greek airports (called “spatosimo”) amounting to EUR 61 million. In 2003, Greece had adopted a law comprising the transfer to the new Olympic Airways company of the personnel and assets of the former Olympic Airways company, keeping most of the assets. The Court notes that this transfer created an obstacle to the effective implementation of the Commission's decision and the recovery of the aid by means of which the Greek State supported the commercial activities of the company. Hence, the Court concludes, the purpose of the Commission's decision, which aims to restore undistorted competition in the civil aviation sector, has been seriously compromised.