2.3.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 64/51
(c) Decree-Law No 125 of 5 August 2010, converted into the 2010 Law provided for a further extension of the initial Conventions from 1 October 2010 until the end of the privatisation processes of Tirrenia and Siremar.
(287) Against this background, the Commission notes that the granting of the public service compensation under the prolongation of the initial Convention, pre-dates the entry into force of the 2011 SGEI Decision and 2011 SGEI Framework.
However, the 2011 SGEI package – in Article 10 of the 2011 SGEI Decision and paragraph 69 of the 2011 SGEI Framework – contains rules that provide for its application also to aid granted before the entry into force of the 2011 SGEI package on 31 January 2012.
In particular, the 2011 SGEI Decision provides in its Article 10(b):
‘any aid put into effect before the entry into force of this Decision [i.e., before 31 January 2012] that was not compatible with the internal market nor exempted from the notification requirement in accordance with Decision 2005/842/EC but fulfils the conditions laid down in this Decision shall be compatible with the internal market and exempted from the requirement of prior notification.’
(288) As regards the 2011 SGEI Framework, paragraphs 68 and 69 of that Framework specify that the Commission will apply the principles set out in that Framework to all notified aid projects, whether the notification took place before or after the start of application of that Framework on 31 January 2012, as well as to all unlawful aid on which it takes a decision after 31 January 2012, even if that aid was granted before 31 January 2012.
In the latter case, the provisions of paragraphs 14, 19, 20, 24, 39 and 60 of the 2011 SGEI Framework are not applicable.
(289) As a result, the rules on the application of the 2011 SGEI Decision and the 2011 SGEI Framework as described above mean that the public service compensation granted to Toremar during the prolongation period can be assessed pursuant to the 2011 SGEI package.
If the relevant conditions of either the 2011 SGEI Decision or the 2011 SGEI Framework are complied with, this aid measure is compatible with the internal market for the entire period from 1 January 2009 until 1 January 2012 (85).
(290) The Commission notes that both the 2005 SGEI Decision, which entered into force on 19 December 2005, and the 2011 SGEI Decision are only applicable to State aid in the form of public service compensation for maritime links to islands on which average annual traffic during the 2 financial years preceding that in which the SGEI was assigned does not exceed 300 000 passengers.
However, Italy provided the average data for all five routes together, and not separately per route, to show that in the years 2010 and 2011 the number of passengers on all those routes operated by Toremar under the initial Convention, as prolonged, did not exceed the threshold of 300 000 passengers per year.
Therefore, the Commission can neither assess the compatibility of the public service compensation paid to Toremar under the extension of the initial Convention until 1 January 2012 on the basis of the 2005 SGEI Decision nor on the basis of the 2011 SGEI Decision.
(291) Consequently, the compatibility of the public service compensation granted to Toremar as of 2009 and until the completion of the privatisation process would normally fall within the scope of application of the 2011 SGEI Framework.
(292) The Commission will assess whether the public service compensation granted to Toremar during the prolongation period complies with the conditions of the 2011 SGEI Framework, with the exception of the conditions in its paragraphs 9, 14, 19, 20, 24, 39 and 60.
(85) For completeness, the Commission notes that the transitional provision contained in Article 10(a) of the 2011 SGEI Decision, according to which any aid scheme put into effect before the entry into force of this Decision (i.e. before 31 January 2012) that was compatible with the internal market and exempted from the notification requirement in accordance with the 2005 SGEI Decision shall continue to be compatible with the internal market and exempted from the notification requirement for a further period of 2 years (i.e. until 30 January 2014 included).
This means that aid which was granted under such a scheme in the period between the entry into force of the 2005 SGEI Decision on 19 December 2005 and the entry into force of the 2011 SGEI Decision on 31 January 2012 will be considered compatible with the internal market but only from the date on which it was granted until 30 January 2014 included.
In any event, for aid granted in the time from 31 January 2012 onwards, the transitional provision of Article 10(a) of the 2011 SGEI Decision is not applicable and the compatibility assessment has to be made pursuant to the 2011 SGEI Decision.