2003/883/EC: Commission Decision of 11 December 2002 concerning State aid scheme C 46/2001 — Central corporate treasuries (Centrales de trésorerie) implemented by France (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2002) 4827)

• Articles: 4

Article 1

The State aid implemented by France in the form of the derogation from the limit on interest deductibility for central corporate treasuries, that derogation being governed by the Instruction of 16 April 1999, which was issued by the Directorate-General for Taxation in connection with the scheme for central corporate treasuries and took effect on 1 January 1999, is incompatible with the common market.

Article 2

France is required to remove the selective aid elements referred to in Article 1 of the scheme governed by the Instruction of 16 April 1999.

Article 3

France shall inform the Commission, within two months of notification of this decision, of the measures taken to comply with it.

Article 4

This decision is addressed to the French Republic.

Done at Brussels, 11 December 2002.

For the Commission

Mario Monti

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ C 302, 27.10.2001, p. 7.

(2) OJ C 2, 6.1.1998, p. 1.

(3) OJ C 384, 10.12.1998, p. 3.

(4) See footnote 1.

(5) See footnote 1.

(6) Article 131c of the CGI states that "the yield on borrowings contracted outside France by French legal persons with the authorisation of the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Privatisation (this authorisation is deemed to be generally granted by administrative instruction of the Directorate-General for Taxation in France) is exempt from the withholding tax provided for in paragraph III of Article 125A", while Article 125 A III, which concerns the withholding tax on the yield from fixed-income investments, stipulates that "the withholding tax shall apply to the aforementioned revenue received by persons not having their tax domicile in France; the same provision shall apply to income paid outside France or received by legal persons not having their registered office in France".

(7) See Joined Cases C-278/92, C-279/92 and C-280/92 Spain v Commission [1994] ECR I-4103, paragraph 42.

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

(9) Case 265/85 [1987] ECR 1155, paragraph 44.

(10) Case 223/85 RSV v Commission [1987] ECR 4617.

(11) See the decision on the Belgian scheme for coordination centres (SG(84) D/6421, 16.5.1984) and the answer to Written Question No 1735/90 (OJ C 63, 11.3.1991, p. 37).