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Brussels rejects the aids granted from the Sardinia Region to airlines that operate in the isolani airports
the EU commission of it has asked the restitution
July 29, 2016
The EU commission has communicated today to consider with the norms EU in matter of aids of State incompatible the aids publics granted from the Sardinia Region to airlines that operate in the airports of Cagliari and Olbia and of it has sped up the restitution.
In the 2010 Sardinia Region it had introduced a provision in order to create, with a systemic vision of the isolani airport ports of call, the "airport system isolate", with the coordination of the programs of financing of the Sardinian ports of call and the aids publics granted to the airlines. The objective one was to guarantee for all the year the connections airplane from and for the region. The EU commission has evidenced that such regime previewed financings to the airports of Cagliari and Olbia, than to they time used them in order to supply compensations financial institutions to airlines selected in order to stimulate them to increase the air traffic towards the Sardinian airports and to carry out the necessary activities of marketing. The transfer of the regional financings from the airports to the airlines - Brussels has explained - happened to conditions controlled from the Sardinian authorities.
Such regime has been object of a under way investigation in January 2013 from the EU commission in order to verify its conformity to the European norms on the aids of State. Remembering that the participations publics in favor of the societies according to do not shape aids of State of the norms of the EU when they happen to acceptable conditions for a private investor (principle of the operating investor in a market economy), the Commission has explained that by the investigation it is emerged that no private investor would have accepted to finance such a increment of air traffic neither the connected activities of marketing and that the granted public financing from Sardinia shapes therefore as an aid of State according to the norms EU.
The investigation has ascertained that the Sardinian airports have not received some state aid since the public financing entirely is transferred the aerial companions and that the airports are served solo as intermediaries for the transfer of the aids to the beneficiaries.
Remembering moreover that the aids of State to the airlines can be justified and compatible provided that they answer to a objective of general interest, as the regional development or accessibility, the specific Commission that but the measures introduced from the Sardinia Region does not answer to the criteria established from the guidelines of 2005 on the aids of Been about to the development of the regional airports as, in particular, was not destined to in future return the profitable aerial routes without financings publics and they were not limited to the additional costs deriving from the broken new opening.
Brussels has evidenced that the Sardinia also has omitted to call contest procedures in order to select the airlines calls to carry out the financed activities.
The Commission has announced that the amount of the amounts to recover near the airlines beneficiaries will have to be established from the Italian authorities in the course of the recovery procedure.
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