The Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of 23 February 2017, recognizing the injury of Corsica Ferries, reports Corse Net Infos (in French).
The subject of the dispute was the aid paid between 2007 and 2013 to the former SNCM and the CMN.
On February 23, 2017, the Bastia Administrative Court had ordered the Collectivité de Corse (CTC) to pay € 84.3 million to Corsica Ferries in compensation for the damage caused by the payment of subsidies. This aid, considered illegal, made it possible to provide an additional service for the transport of passengers during peak periods within the framework of the DSP (Delegation of public service).
Corsica Ferries, then, seized the European Commission and obtained, in April 2016, the cancellation of the DSP.
In a judgment delivered on February 15, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseille confirms the payment of indemnities.
Satisfied with the judgment, Pierre Mattei, CEO of Corsica Ferries, sees two mistakes committed by the CTC.
1) Illegal subsidies in 2007.
2) In 2013, when it did nothing to recover the € 220 million in illegal aid received by SNCM that should have paid back.
It will now be a question of precisely assessing this damage. The CTC already announced to accept the verdict.
February 22, 2018