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Home Page > Archivio delle notizie > Notizia Commission reaches satisfactory agreement in the Alitalia State aid caseThe European Commission will not open a new investigation in the Alitalia State aid case following a satisfactory agreement reached with the Italian authorities. On 15 July 1997, the Commission authorised the Italian authorities to make a capital injection of Lira 2750,000 million (euro 1420 million) in Alitalia. As in all State aid authorisations in the aviation sector, the money was awarded in instalments subject to the respect by Italy of certain conditions which are monitored by the Commission, in this case on an annual basis. In the course of the monitoring process it became clear that some of these conditions were not entirely respected. In particular the Commission was concerned that the Italian authorities had discriminated in favour of Alitalia as regards the allocation of traffic rights and access to airport infrastructure, that Alitalia had not met the limits on capacity on its domestic network imposed by the Commission, and that there were clear instances of price leadership by Alitalia. The Commission therefore warned Italy that without speedy guarantees that these problems would be resolved, the Commission would be obliged to reopen the procedure under which the aid was first authorised, since it is a primary function of the Commission to ensure that conditions attached to State aids are properly respected. If they are not, there may be grounds for questioning the aid authorisation in the first place. However, the Italian authorities have now committed to taking the necessary measures to ensure that all conditions are fully respected and that the impact of the breaches is limited. On this basis, the Commission considers that a reopening of the procedure is no longer justified.
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