The European Court of Justice has upheld the EU’s General Court ruling that France Telecom benefited from illegal aid from the French government between 1994 and 2002.
FT has already paid back €1.14bn in 2010, a spokesperson for the company…
The European Court of Justice has upheld the EU’s General Court ruling that France Telecom benefited from illegal aid from the French government between 1994 and 2002.
FT has already paid back €1.14bn in 2010, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
In 2004, the European Commission had ruled that a tax break for FT was illegal and in 2007 the European Court of Justice ruled that France had failed to reclaim the aid as required.
The French authorities and France Telecom subsequently brought the action before the Court of First Instance seeking annulment of the Commission’s decision.
But in November 2009, the European Court of First Instance confirmed the Commission’s ruling.
Despite repaying the state aid eventually, the telco appealed that decision, which today has been rejected.
