Alitalia, in the sights of the EU the 900 million bridging loan granted by the Italian State. Is it state aid or not? It will be the European Antitrust, which has launched an in-depth investigation, that will have to dissolve the question and establish whether the loan complies with the rules on aid to companies in difficulty.
At the moment, the Commission is "of the opinion that the state loan constitutes state aid". Hence the need to "carry out further investigations to verify whether the loan satisfies the conditions set out in the guidelines", the Antitrust indicated in a note. The Commission is concerned that “the duration of the loan, which runs from May 2017 to at least December 2018, exceeds the maximum six-month duration set by the guidelines for rescue loans. The Commission fears that "the aid is not limited to the minimum necessary". The opening of an in-depth investigation, underlines Brussels, offers all interested parties the opportunity to express their opinion on the measure, and "not in any way prejudices the outcome of the investigation itself”.
The context of the story is well known: Alitalia, owned by the Compagnia Aerea Italiana (CAO) consortium with 51% of the shares and by Etihad Airways with the remaining 49%, has been battling bankruptcy for years. On April 24, 2017, the airline's staff rejected a plan to cut costs and shareholders therefore decided not to provide further financing to the company. As a result, on 2 May 2017, Alitalia was placed under extraordinary administration. To secure the financing of the company's activities during the extraordinary administration, the Italian state granted the company a bridging loan of €2017 million in May 600, followed by a further loan of €2017 million in October 300. The extraordinary commissioners have also launched a tender procedure with the aim of finding a buyer for Alitalia's assets, a procedure which however has not yet given a decisive outcome.
Italy had of course notified the entire 900 million euro loan that the state granted to the national company as bailout aid. Notification that followed a series of complaints in Brussels in which it was argued that the loan constituted state aid incompatible with current EU rules. Now the in-depth investigation by the Antitrust led by competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager will have to untie the knot once and for all.
