The European Commission has appealed a European court ruling which found that France Telecom had not received illegal state aid worth E9bn, according to media reports.
Last May, the European court cancelled a 2004 ruling by the European Commission that…
The European Commission has appealed a European court ruling which found that France Telecom had not received illegal state aid worth E9bn, according to media reports.
Last May, the European court cancelled a 2004 ruling by the European Commission that the operator had received unlawful state aid in 2002 when it was struggling with debt.
On June 30, 2002, FT’s net debt stood at E69.69bn, which included E48.9bn of bonded debt repayable during 2003 and 2005. In the second half of 2002, the authorities made several announcements that they would support the operator and proposed to open a E9bn credit line in the form of a shareholder loan.
The Commission decided on August 2, 2004 that the E9bn credit line constituted state aid incompatible with EU law.
But last May, the European court ruled against the Commission’s decision on the grounds that France Telecom neither accepted nor received the funds.
Neither the Commission nor France Telecom was immediately available for comments.
