2001/851/EC: Commission Decision of 21 June 2001 on the State aid awarded to the Tirrenia di Navigazione shipping company by Italy (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2001) 1684)

• Articles: 6

Article 1

The aid awarded by Italy to Tirrenia di Navigazione between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2000 as compensation for providing a public service is compatible with the common market.

Article 2

Between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2004, the aid awarded by Italy to Tirrenia di Navigazione shall be limited to covering the additional costs arising from the loss incurred during the provision of services corresponding to the commitments entered into by Italy for the abovementioned period.

Italy shall notify the Commission in advance of any change to the level of these services during the abovementioned period.

Article 3

The public service obligations imposed on Tirrenia di Navigazione for the 2005 to 2008 five-year period must be notified to the Commission in advance.

Article 4

As from 1 January 2001, the additional costs deriving from the loss incurred during the provision of services imposed by Italy on Tirrenia di Navigazione must be the subject of separate accounts for each of the lines concerned.

Article 5

Italy shall inform the Commission, within three months of the date of notification of this Decision, of the measures taken to comply therewith.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Italian Republic.

Done at Brussels, 21 June 2001.

For the Commission

Loyola De Palacio

Vice-President

(1) OJ C 306, 23.10.1999, p. 2.

(2) See footnote 1.

(3) OJ L 364, 12.12.1992, p. 7.

(4) Source:

Conto Nazionale dei Trasporti 1997.

(5) Data taken from the PriceWaterhouseCoopers' study Valutazione dei criteri di predisposizione dei conti economici gestionali per linea e stagionalità relativi agli esercizi 1992-1999, completed for the year 2000 by the Italian authorities. The study reproduces the analytical accounts of the Tirrenia company and assesses the operating costs and income for each of the routes.

(6) Expenditure on fuel, which amounted to ITL 74179 million in 1999, soared to ITL 113142 million in 2000.

(7) OJ C 205, 5.7.1997.

(8) Case T 246/1999, in progress.

(9) Case C 400/1999, in progress.

(10) European Court of Justice, Case 120/73 Lorenz [1973] ECR 1471.

(11) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1.

(12) See the Guidelines on national regional aid (OJ C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9).

(13) Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 27 February 1997, Case T-106/95 Fédération française des sociétés d'assurances (FFSA et al.) v Commission [1997] ECR II-229, paragraph 173 of the grounds.

(14) See the judgment referred to in the previous footnote and the judgment of the Court of 10 December 1991 in Case C-179/90 Merci convenzionali Porto di Genova [1991] ECR I-5889, paragraph 26.

(15) Judgment of the Court of 20 February 2001, Case C-205/1999 "Spanish maritime cabotage", not yet published.

(16) Ibid.

(17) See recital 30.

(18) The data refer to 1997 and have been taken from the "Azzurra" study.

(19) The port of Golfo Aranci, situated 15 km from Olbia, may be regarded as interchangeable with the latter.

(20) The services provided by this operator in the low season were suspended in the autumn of 2000.

(21) The ports of Fiumicino and Civitavecchia may be regarded as interchangeable, as is the case with the ports of Golfo Aranci and Olbia.

(22) The ports of La Spezia and Genoa may be regarded as interchangeable, like those of Olbia and Golfo Aranci.

(23) The ports of Voltri and Genoa may be regarded as interchangeable, as may those of Termini Imerese and Palermo.

(24) Analisi della redditività di alcune linee di cabotaggio italiane, June 2000.

(25) Analisi comparativa dei conti economici gestionali di Tirrenia di Navigazione e Azzurra di Navigazione, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, December 2000.

(26) 1999 is the reference year both for the Azzurra study and for the comparative study performed by the Commission's consultant. It is also the first year in which the Italian cabotage market was open to the free provision of services and the year in which the private operators stepped up their presence compared with previous years. 1999 is also the last year for which the Commission has all the relevant economic data.

(27) Reliefs authorised by the Commission by letter SG/D6875 of 18 August 1999 (N 396/1999).

(28) Data taken from the abovementioned study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

(29) For instance, the recent acquisition of two high-speed vessels was financed via a loan taken out with the Banco di Napoli in 1999 for ITL 160 billion at a variable rate equal to the six-month Euribor rate, raised by 0,40 % and repayable over 10 years. Information forwarded by the Italian authorities shows that the same credit institution granted loans at the same time to other large companies under very similar conditions.

(30) See Commission notice on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in the form of guarantees (OJ C 71, 11.3.2000).