L 200/206
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
29.7.2022
(326) In view of the above, the Commission concludes that the amount of compensation granted to Laziomar during the prolongation of the initial Convention has not led to any overcompensation and the applicable requirements of Section 2.8 of the SGEI Framework are complied with.
5.3.7.
The berthing priority (327) Article 19-ter, paragraph 21, of the 2009 Law clearly specifies that the berthing priority was necessary to guarantee the territorial continuity with the islands and in light of the public service obligations of the companies of the former Tirrenia Group, including Laziomar.
Indeed, if there were no priority berthing for companies entrusted with public service obligations, these may have to wait their turn before docking and thereby incur delays, which would defeat the purpose of ensuring reliable and convenient connectivity to the consumers.
A regular timetable is indeed necessary to satisfy mobility needs of the islands’ population and to contribute to the economic development of the islands concerned.
Furthermore, since the departure times for the public service routes are fixed by the Convention the berthing priority is necessary to ensure that ports allocate the berths and berthing times in such a way to enable the public service operator to respect its public service obligations.
(328) Against this background, the Commission considers that this measure was awarded to enable Laziomar to perform its public service obligations, which constitute a genuine SGEI (see Section 5.3.2).
Furthermore, Italy has confirmed that the berthing priority is only applicable to services provided under the public service regime.
(329) The Commission has already assessed in detail the compatibility of the SGEI and the related compensation for Laziomar during the prolongation of the initial Convention (see Sections 5.3.2 to 5.3.6).
The Commission hence considers that its compatibility assessment of the berthing priority can be limited to establishing whether or not this measure could result in overcompensation.
(330) The Commission considers that any possible monetary advantage from the berthing priority would be limited (see recital 162).
As a result, also the risk of overcompensation stemming from the measure would be limited.
In addition, to the extent that this measure would reduce the operating costs or increase the revenues of the public service operator, these effects would be fully reflected in the operator's internal accounts.
Therefore, the overcompensation checks that have been applied to Laziomar as described in Section 5.3.6 are also fit to detect any possible overcompensation resulting from the berthing priority.
(331) The Commission therefore concludes that the berthing priority, which is inextricably linked with the public service performed by Laziomar, is compatible with the internal market on the basis of Article 106(2) TFEU and the 2011 SGEI Framework.
5.3.8.
Conclusion (332) Based on the assessment in recitals 278 to 331, the Commission concludes that the compensation granted to Laziomar for the provision of the maritime services subject to the prolongation of the initial Convention in the period from 1 June 2011 to 14 January 2014 and the berthing priority complies with the applicable conditions of the 2011 SGEI Framework and are therefore compatible with the internal market under Article 106 TFEU.
6.
CONCLUSION
(333) The Commission finds that Italy has unlawfully implemented the aid measures under assessment in breach of Article 108(3) TFEU.
On the basis of the foregoing assessment, the Commission has decided that the public service compensation granted to Laziomar under the prolongation of the initial Convention is compatible with the internal market under Article 106 TFEU.
Furthermore, since the berthing priority is inextricably linked with the performance of the SGEI by Laziomar, this measure is also compatible with the internal market under Article 106 TFEU.
(334) Further, the Commission finds that the following measures do not constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU: (a) the compensation granted to Laziomar for the provision of maritime services under the new service contract for the period 15 January 2014 – 14 January 2024, bundled with the Laziomar business and the berthing priority to Laziomar, because it complies with the four Altmark criteria;