Hard blow to Italy arrived straight and strong from Brussels. Alitalia will have to return i 900 million euros of the two bridging loans received in 2017 because they were considered "illegitimate state aid" by the European Antitrust. A decision that surprised, and not a little, the Draghi government and almost overshadowed the announced green light that will arrive today from the same body to the new public company Italia Trasporto Aereo, which from 15 October should take the place of Alitalia .
The Brussels verdict was anticipated yesterday by Financial Times and it was confirmed today, Thursday 9 September, at Corriere della Sera from two institutional sources. The official announcement is expected in the next few hours. In the morning the issue was addressed by the Council of Ministers. The issue was the subject of discussions, but no decisions of any kind were taken, not even on any regulatory interventions.
According to Brussels, an investigation lasting over 3 and a half years would have shown that five years ago the Italian State would have violated the EU competition rules granting Alitalia two bridging loans for a total amount of 900 million euro. "In the investigation conducted by the Commission - states the document - Italy did not act like a private investor, it did not consider in advance the probability that the loans would then be repaid". For the other 400 million disbursed in 2019, the decision will come at a later time.
The money must therefore be returned, but Alitalia, now in extraordinary administration, does not have the funds to do so. At this point, not only overlooks the scene the hypothesis of failure, which becomes more than concrete, but also becomes more complicated the dossier on Ita the new company that will debut in mid-October. The operation could in fact undergo changes and revaluations still to be evaluated.
Bad news for the newco also comes from the unions which, for the most part, deserted the meeting of 8 September with the top management of the company on new employment contract. “Having detected the unavailability of the joint signature, Ita takes note of the inability to reach an agreement”, says the company which is therefore preparing to hire 2.800 employees “through the application of a company regulation”, outside the perimeter of the national collective labor agreement.
The president of Ita, Alfredo Altavilla spoke of "purely formal rulings that have nothing to do with the merit and goodness of the project" and "that reflect customs and languages that are no longer current". The unions, for their part, have asked for government intervention and announced new meetings of Alitalia workers for this morning. Yesterday, a motorcade of workers of the historic airline has blocked the Rome-Fiumicino proceeding at walking pace in the direction of Eur, under the headquarters in Ita where the police guarded the entrances of the new company in anti-riot gear with shields and batons.
