FRENCH UTILITY Électricité de France (EDF) may be entitled to reclaim more than €1.2 billion in French government aid after a European Union court ruling.
The European Union General Court in Luxembourg yesterday overturned a European Commission decision that aid EDF received from France was unlawful. The court said the commission’s analysis of the subsidies was flawed.
The commission had failed to examine whether the French state had acted like a private investor when it granted the aid, the court said in a statement.
“By refusing to examine the contested measures in their context and to apply the private investor test, the commission erred in law and infringed the rules governing state aid,” it said. “The General Court therefore annuls the commission’s decision.”
The commission may re-examine the issue and adopt a new decision. In 2003, it ordered the Paris-based utility to pay €889 million in back taxes plus interest due since 1997, when EDF booked a tax concession related to its ownership of France’s high-voltage electricity network. EDF paid France more than €1.2 billion.
EDF appealed to the EU court in 2004, arguing the commission made mistakes and forced a repayment far greater than what was due. The commission, the EU’s antitrust regulator, vets whether government aid distorts EU competition. – (Bloomberg /Reuters)
