Follow-up to questions E-005561/2020, E-005996/2020 and the letter sent by the Commission requesting clarifications regarding State aid (SA.58173)

Subject: Follow-up to questions E-005561/2020, E-005996/2020 and the letter sent by the Commission requesting clarifications regarding State aid (SA.58173)

This question is a follow-up to questions and answers E-005561/2020, E-005996/2020, E- 004609/2020, E-002138-19 and E-004328-18, and comes in the light of the Commission’s nine-page letter1 of 8 January 20212 requesting clarifications from the Italian authorities.

What is the deadline for the Italian authorities to answer the points in the letter and what is the Commission’s timeline for this case in 2021?

In its answer to question E-004609/2020, the Commission states that ‘the Commission’s two formal investigation procedures into the loans Italy provided to Alitalia (EUR 900 and 400 million) are ongoing. Their assessment is handled independently from the assessment of the new company’3.

Will the Commission only decide on these ‘rescue loans’ given to Alitalia in 2017 and 2019 once it is confirmed that there is no ‘economic continuity’ between Alitalia and Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA), the new company replacing it? Why is it taking so long to make a decision on this aid?

Given the Commission’s duty to guarantee open and fair market conditions and considering the fact that other private airlines are interested in slots at Milano Linate4 and Rome Fiumicino airports:

Can the Commission confirm that only a non-discriminatory public tender for Alitalia’s slots, ground handling, loyalty programme and maintenance business will be accepted, to ensure there is no economic continuity between Allitalia and ITA?

1 https://twitter.com/angelazoppo/status/1348917422057807873?s=20

2 https://www.corriere.it/economia/aziende/21_gennaio_12/alitalia-faro-ue-nuova-societa-richieste-bruxelles-

d2db8988-54e4-11eb-89b9-d85a626b049f.shtml

3 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-004609-ASW_EN.html

4 https://www.corriere.it/economia/aziende/21_gennaio_16/alitalia-newco-punta-marchio-programma-

millemiglia-5554cd6e-582f-11eb-ae23-b4c117d7c032.shtml

Answer given by Executive Vice-President Vestager on behalf of the European Commission (16 March 2021)

The letter of 8 January 2021 sent by the Commission’s services is a request for information, part of a bilateral exchange between the Commission services and the Italian authorities in the context of the ITA NewCo/Alitalia investigation.

The letter did not indicate a deadline. However, the Commission received the Italian authorities’ answer on 2 February 2021, i.e. without any significant delay.

The investigations on the 2017 and 2019 loans are still ongoing and therefore the Commission cannot give any further indication on these investigations, including any possible procedural steps or outcomes.

If there is a finding of incompatible aid, the question of economic continuity/discontinuity may arise. It is in that context that the Commission looks into a number of factors, one of which is the market price.

While a public, open, transparent, unconditional and non-discriminatory tender is the best way to establish a market price, economic discontinuity depends on a number of other criteria.

Thus, a public tender is not an absolute prerequisite for the Commission to find that there is discontinuity. However, as already indicated, the investigations of the 2017 and 2019 loans are ongoing and thus there is no finding on the existence of incompatible aid.

⋅1∙ https://twitter.com/angelazoppo/status/1348917422057807873?s=20

⋅2∙ https://www.corriere.it/economia/aziende/21_gennaio_12/alitalia-faro-ue-nuova-societa-richieste-bruxelles-d2db8988-54e4-11eb-89b9-d85a626b049f.shtml

⋅3∙ https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-004609-ASW_EN.html

⋅4∙ https://www.corriere.it/economia/aziende/21_gennaio_16/alitalia-newco-punta-marchio-programma-millemiglia-5554cd6e-582f-11eb-ae23-

b4c117d7c032.shtml