The European Union's top court backed Tuesday a lower court's annulment
of a European Commission decision that had ruled French utility Electricite de
France SA (EDF.FR) had enjoyed state aid in the form of a tax concession worth
EUR888.89 million.
"The Commission erred in law by refusing, simply because the measure was
fiscal, to consider whether the French state had acted as a private
investor," the Court of Justice said in a statement after a ruling issued
in
Luxembourg
,
where it is based.
On Dec. 16, 2003, the commission--which has executive and antitrust powers in
the EU--ruled that EDF had enjoyed a tax concession corresponding to the
corporation tax that the company didn't pay in 1997 when unused provisions
created for the renewal of a high-voltage transmission network were
reclassified as capital in the balance sheet.
However, in December 2009, the General Court annulled that commission's
decision at the request of EDF, on the basis that the commission had failed to
examine whether the French state had merely acted in the manner of a private
investor, taking into account the whole of the operation of the restructuring
and the fact that the French state was the sole shareholder of EDF at the time.
On
Tuesday, the Court of Justice confirmed that annulment.