Brussels, 24/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - According to the spokesperson for Commissioner Jacques Barrot, the European Commission harbours certain doubts about the “very nature” of the measures proposed by the Italian authorities to save Alitalia airlines, following the decision of the Air France-KLM consortium not to take the company back under its control. On Tuesday 22 April, the government of Silvio Berlusconi decided to allocate €300 million in emergency funds to safeguard Alitalia's survival, while waiting for another bidder. The Commission was informed about this the day after and, according to the same spokesperson, is scrupulously analysing the case. The spokesperson informed the press on Wednesday 23 April that they needed to know if this was “a simple operation as the Italian authorities claim or if there are state aid elements involved”.
Member states are free to lend money to companies insofar as these loans are made in conditions that are acceptable to a mortgage investor from the private sector, in order to prevent any barriers to competition. In 2005, a loan of €400 million was made by the Italian authorities to Alitalia and was approved by the Commission insofar as the interest rates were “normal” and the repayment deadline was limited to just 12 months. As soon as a state creates excessively favourable conditions to the borrower, however, this becomes state aid, which can only be agreed in certain well defined circumstances. The Alitalia case appears to exclude these circumstances. As the spokesperson for the Transport Commissioner pointed out on 18 April, Alitalia already received state aid for restructuring in 2001 (approved by the Commission) and is therefore not authorised to receive any more before 2011.
An answer is required as to whether the emergency funds are of a “commercial” nature or constitute state aid. In a reference to the proposed rates, Rome explained that the loan was, “made available at a commercial rate of interest.” This is, however, not the only condition the Commission imposes. The spokesperson pointed out that “a loan made available at a commercial rate o interest can still constitute state aid if a commercial lender does not regard the recipient as being sufficiently safe…to grant them a loan”. Alitalia's daily deficit is more than €1 million and the unions have until now blocked any proposals to reduce the number of company employees. The Commission's scepticism can therefore be understood about the profitability of such an investment. Banks and other private investors are not hurrying to lend money to the former national Italian airline, hence the state initiative. The Commission is therefore requesting more information before reaching a decision - “in the next couple of days we will send a letter to the Italian authorities informing them of a number of doubts we have about these measures and requiring more clarification”. (A.By./C.D.)