"The mere fact that a measure in favor of a company comes from a public company and not from a State is not enough to exclude that it is state aid”. This was stated today by the spokesman of the European Commissioner for Competition, Joaquin Almunia, in reference to the controversies aroused by theinvestment by Poste Italiane in Alitalia. The spokesman added that Brussels is waiting for the notification of the operation to start the analytical work.
IERI (Yesterday) by British Airways an explicit request had arrived to the European Union: “We expect the EU Commission to intervene to suspend this manifestly illegal aid – reads a note -. We have always been against any form of state aid. It is protectionism, it undermines competition and favors failing airlines that are out of step with economic reality."
Words to which Fabrizio Saccomanni replied today: “The Alitalia operation concerns the companies involved – underlined the Minister of the Treasury -, the Government is only monitoring the situation, in any case it is not a question of protectionism. Talking about protectionism is out of place, because we believe in the integration of the airline with another international operator given that the strategy of 'going it alone' makes no sense, Italy's position has changed on this”.
Meanwhile, after a river meeting that ended late at night, the shareholders of Alitalia have unanimously approved the capital increase from 300 million. At the end of the operation, the company's board of directors will resign: an act that is somewhat due, since the minor shareholders of the company should not join the increase, while another strong subject such as Poste Italiane will enter the shareholding structure.
