natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Firstly, as previously indicated, neither France nor VTAN have provided any analysis showing that the ‘net incremental cost’ caused for Veolia Transport by the agreements signed with Ryanair/AMS, as indicated further on, would have been offset by future benefits resulting for the Veolia Transport group from this initial airport operation experience.
Kommissionen har alltså använt denna uppgift i sin utvärdering av de avtal som ingåtts med Ryanair och AMS.
There is also nothing to say that Veolia Transport could not have acquired this initial experience at another airport where the net cost would have been lower.
VTAN ingick avtalen mellan 2007 och 2010, dvs. efter utarbetandet av VTAN:s affärsplan och, under en relativt begränsad period följdes denna.
Moreover, it should be noted that VTAN’s conduct towards Ryanair/AMS must not be assessed in isolation, but in conjunction with the SMAN’s conduct.
Användningen av ovannämnda uppskattning av de ytterligare driftskostnaderna per passagerare anges alltså särskilt för dessa avtal.
This is all the more relevant as the ‘net incremental cost’ of the agreements signed with Ryanair and AMS should not actually have been borne by VTAN, but by the SMAN through the flat-rate contribution ensuring financial stability and a reasonable profit for VTAN.
Den godtas också, i brist på annat, för de avtal som ingicks av industri- och handelskammaren, även om VTAN:s affärsplan utarbetades efter dessa.
However, in terms of its profitability, the SMAN did not have any interest in encouraging the signature of agreements allowing the Veolia Transport group to acquire some initial airport operation experience in order to develop its activity in this area.
Detta är i synnerhet fallet för avtalen från oktober 2005, som ingicks bara några månader innan VTAN:s affärsplan sammanställdes.
Veolia Transport’s interest in developing this activity cannot therefore lead to the conclusion that the SMAN behaved, in conjunction with VTAN, in the way that an MEO motivated by the prospect of profits would have done.
I själva verket anser kommissionen att en marknadsekonomisk aktör inte skulle ha uppskattat de ytterligare driftskostnaderna per passagerare på ett särskilt annorlunda sätt i oktober 2005 än i september 2006, eftersom det är föga troligt att en aktörs kostnadsstruktur genomgår stora förändringar under en period på mindre än ett år.
It should also be noted that, in their comments on the application of the MEO test to the various agreements in question, certain interested third parties referred to the fact that the conditions offered to Ryanair may or may not have been offered to other airlines likely to want to use Nîmes airport.
Vad gäller de avtal som ingicks mellan 2000 och 2004 ingicks de långt innan VTAN:s affärsplan utarbetades.
This argument is without merit.
I brist på ett bättre alternativ anser dock kommissionen att kostnaden för den ökande driftkostnaden per passagerare på [2–4] euro, justerad för att beakta inflationen, som uppskattas till preliminärt 2 % per år, likaså är lämplig för analysen av de äldsta avtalen.
For an airport operator motivated by the prospect of profits, objective factors can justify different conditions being offered to different airlines.
Det bör också noteras att för varje avtal som ingicks av industri- och handelskammaren är den ytterligare driftskostnad som Frankrike föreslår ([5–7] euro per passagerare), beräknad som genomsnittet av driftkostnaderna per passagerare under perioden 2000–2006, betydligt högre än den merkostnad per passagerare som kommissionen använder och som den anser är mer relevant av de skäl som beskrivs ovan.
These factors may include the expected volume of traffic, the number and type of routes and associated frequencies, or even the nature of the services requested by the airline.
För varje avtal multipliceras således den ytterligare driftskostnaden per passagerare med den förväntade ytterligare trafiken för att år för år fastställa den sammanlagda ytterligare driftskostnaden för avtalet.
The extent to which the conditions offered to Ryanair by the CCI and VTAN were or could have been offered to other airlines is therefore irrelevant in the context of the MEO test.
Beskrivning av de olika avtalen
In the light of all the above, the Commission considers that the approach generally recommended in the new Guidelines for applying the MEO test to relationships between airports and airlines, namely the ex ante incremental profitability analysis, must be applied to the present case.
Kommissionen kommer att redogöra för resultaten av sin analys av de olika avtalen nedan, som utarbetats enligt den metod som beskrivs ovan.
This approach is justified by the fact that an airport operator may have an objective interest in concluding a transaction with an airline where it may reasonably expect this transaction to improve its profits (or reduce its losses) compared with a counterfactual situation in which this transaction is not concluded, regardless of any comparison with the conditions offered to other airlines or with the conditions offered by other airport operators.
Särdragen hos varje avtal av relevans för denna analys kommer också att presenteras.
Conclusion on the terms for applying the market economy operator test
Avtalet av den 11 april 2000
It is clear from all the above that, in order to apply the MEO test to the agreements in question, the Commission must analyse each marketing services agreement together with the corresponding airport services agreement, and must assess whether a hypothetical MEO, motivated by the prospect of profits and operating Nîmes airport, would have signed these agreements.
Detta avtal rör driften av en daglig förbindelse till London med en Boeing 737-200 med 130 säten.
To this end, it is necessary to determine the incremental profitability of the agreements as it would have been assessed by the MEO at the time of their signature, by estimating, for the entire period of application of the agreements:
Kommissionen har i sin analys tagit med den ytterligare trafik som följde av denna procentsats på 75 %, som gällde en daglig förbindelse som drevs med ett plan med 130 säten, liksom de ytterligare intäkter och driftskostnader som hörde ihop med denna, enligt de principer som anges ovan.
the future incremental traffic expected from the implementation of these agreements, possibly taking into account the effects of the marketing services on the load factors of the routes covered by the agreements,
I tabell 6 i detta skäl presenteras resultaten av denna analys.
the future incremental revenues expected from the implementation of these agreements, including revenues from airport charges and ground handling services, generated by the routes covered by these agreements, as well as non-aeronautical revenue from the additional traffic generated by the implementation of these agreements,
Tabell 6
the future incremental costs expected from the implementation of these agreements, including operating costs and any incremental investment costs generated by the routes covered by these agreements, as well as the costs of marketing services.
Sammanfattning av rekonstruktionen av lönsamhetsanalysen i förväg vad gäller avtalet av den 11 april 2000
These calculations should provide the future annual flows corresponding to the difference between incremental revenues and costs, to be discounted, if necessary, by a rate reflecting the cost of capital for the airport operator.
Avtalet från 2000 (London) – prognoser för ytterligare trafik, intäkter och kostnader
A positive net present value indicates in principle that the agreements in question do not confer an economic advantage, whereas a negative net present value reveals the presence of such an advantage.
Total passagerarvolym, ankomst och avgång
It should be noted that, in this assessment, the arguments of Ryanair and the Operators that the price of the marketing services purchased by the Operators is equivalent to or less than what may be regarded as a ‘market price’ for such services are without merit.
[0–50000]
A hypothetical MEO motivated by the prospect of profits would not be prepared to purchase such services, even at a price at or below ‘market price’, if it were predicted that, despite the positive effect of such services on passenger traffic on the air routes concerned, the incremental costs generated by the agreements would exceed the incremental revenues at present value.
[50000–100000]
In such a scenario, the ‘market price’ would be higher than the hypothetical MEO was prepared to pay, and the services in question would therefore logically be rejected.
Antal turer per år
For the same reasons, the fact that the prices set in the airport services agreement may be equivalent to or higher than the prices invoiced by even slightly comparable airport operators would be irrelevant in this assessment if these prices were not expected to generate sufficient incremental revenues to cover the incremental costs.
[200–250]
Application of the market economy operator test
[350–400]
During the procedure, the Commission invited France to submit incremental cost, revenue and profitability estimates for the various agreements, which may have been produced prior to the signature of these agreements.
Landningsavgifter
The only information provided by France in response to this invitation appears in a business plan prepared by Veolia Transport in September 2006 (‘the VTAN business plan’), a few months before it became the new airport operator, in order to assess the financial stability of the new public service delegation.
Passageraravgifter
This business plan was not linked to one or more specific agreements, but detailed the projected costs and revenues for the entire airport operation for the whole term of the new public service delegation (2007-2011).
Inkomster från marktjänster
France has also provided the contents of a study conducted for VTAN by an economic adviser (‘the VTAN study’), which aims to estimate, based on the VTAN business plan, the extent to which the additional traffic generated by a new agreement would influence the various cost and revenue items, except for the costs incurred by the marketing services agreements.
Sammanlagda intäkter från luftfartsverksamheter
With regard to the airport operator’s revenues, it is clear from the VTAN study that, due to its very nature, the aeronautical revenue, which stems from airport charges and ground handling services, varies according to the additional traffic, just like the commercial non-aeronautical revenue (associated with the activity of shops, restaurants and car parks situated within the airport zone).
Intäkter från icke-luftfartsverksamheter
On the other hand, the property-related non-aeronautical revenue (typically, fixed rents received by the Nîmes airport operator from various businesses present at the airport site) is not influenced by traffic variations and should not therefore be taken into account in an incremental analysis.
Sammanlagda intäkter
As regards costs, the study indicates that certain items of expenditure, such as office and structural costs, are not influenced by traffic variations, whereas others, such as purchases, are directly linked to traffic.
Driftskostnader (personal, olika inköp etc.)
However, according to the study, a limited part of this expenditure (estimated at 8 % of the total servicing and maintenance expenditure) can be imputed to Ryanair.
Sammanlagda kostnader
With regard to staff costs, the study takes account of the fact that part of these costs was independent of traffic, as only those costs associated with aircraft and passenger handling staff and part of the costs associated with administrative staff were imputable to the Ryanair traffic.
Ytterligare flöden (intäkter minus kostnader)
The study therefore estimates that, over the entire period covered, the staff costs imputable to Ryanair accounted for [40-50] % of the total staff costs.
[100000–150000]
The study also considers the taxes paid by the airport operator.
[150000–200000]
It notes that property tax, which depends only on the extent of the property managed by the airport operator, is independent of traffic, whereas business tax depends in particular on turnover, and therefore on traffic, and payroll tax is directly linked to the staff costs mentioned above.
Tabell 6 i föregående skäl visar att en marknadsekonomisk aktör skulle ha förväntat sig positiva årliga ytterligare flöden varje år fram till dess att avtalet från 2000 löpte ut, och följaktligen, en positiv ytterligare lönsamhet.
Finally, the study considers that [40-50] % of the marketing study costs, funded by the airport operator and covering commercial passenger traffic, development of the airport through new routes or new activities and development of the industrial hub, were imputable to the Ryanair traffic.
År 2000 bedrev Air France för övrigt fortfarande reguljärtrafik från Nîmes flygplats.
For each revenue and cost item in the VTAN business plan, the study therefore estimates a percentage to be applied in order to determine the part attributable to the Ryanair traffic, which therefore varies according to the traffic.
Enligt Frankrike ville industri- och handelskammaren vid denna tidpunkt diversifiera den kommersiella verksamheten vid flygplatsen och inledde därför diskussioner med flera lågprisbolag efter att även ha analyserat frakt- och charterverksamheterna.
Finally, the study uses the traffic forecasts contained in the VTAN business plan to determine, item by item, the projected incremental costs and revenues per passenger for the entire period.
Kommissionen anser i detta sammanhang att ingåendet av avtalet av den 11 april 2000 kan anses utgöra en del av en övergripande strategi från industri- och handelskammarens sida för att göra flygplatsen lönsam, åtminstone på lång sikt.
The Commission takes the view that the VTAN business plan and the VTAN study provide reliable information that can be taken into account when applying the MEO test.
Av ovanstående framgår att avtalet av den 11 april 2000 inte har gett Ryanair någon ekonomisk fördel, och att det följaktligen inte utgör något stöd till bolaget i fråga.
The facts on record actually show that the VTAN business plan was the result of a very thorough analysis, which is all the more reliable because this business plan served as the basis for determining the flat-rate contribution ensuring the financial stability of the airport’s operation.
Utbytet av skrivelser mellan slutet av 2001 och början av 2002
Moreover, this business plan is not likely to have been biased by the present procedure, given that the Commission initiated its action on the basis of a complaint that was only received in January 2010.
Avtalet av den 11 april 2000 har ändrats genom ett utbyte av skrivelser mellan industri- och handelskammaren av den 28 november 2001, den 11, 18, 21 och 24 december 2001 och den 2, 5 och 15 februari 2002 (nedan kallade utbytet av skrivelser mellan slutet av 2001 och början av 2002).
The examination of this business plan and associated documents has not revealed any rash or unrealistic assumptions among those used by Veolia Transport to produce this plan.
Av detta utbyte av skrivelser och de förklaringar som lämnats av Frankrike i detta syfte framgår det att utbytet utgör en transaktion som syftade till att ändra avtalet av den 11 april 2000 genom att höja betalningarna för marknadsföringstjänsterna med […] franc (dvs. […] euro) per avresande passagerare från och med den 1 januari 2002 fram till dess att avtalet löpte ut, och genom att återigen höja dessa betalningar med ett ytterligare belopp på […] franc (dvs. […] euro) per avresande passagerare under perioden mellan den 29 april och den 31 oktober 2002 (nedan kallad sommarsäsongen 2002), under förutsättning att Ryanair lade till en ytterligare daglig avgång på sin förbindelse till London under denna period.
The VTAN study is also based on reasonable assumptions.
Enligt Frankrike motsvarar denna andra ytterligare avgång 185 möjliga ytterligare flygningar under sommarsäsongen 2002, vilket på grundval av ett plan med plats för 148 passagerare och en beläggningskoefficient på 75 % som i hög grad motsvarar den trafik som bedrivits tidigare kunde leda till en ytterligare trafik på 41070 passagerare.
It has therefore been taken into account by the Commission in its analysis, as will be indicated below.
Antagandet av en belastningsfaktor på 75 % tycks rimligt eftersom den motsvarar den trafik som uppnåddes under den föregående perioden och utbytet av skrivelser mellan slutet av 2001 och början av 2002 inte förutsåg några ytterligare marknadsföringsinsatser, från Ryanairs eller industri- och handelskammarens sida, i syfte att öka trafiken på ett påtagligt sätt.
Aside from the VTAN business plan, the only economic assessment provided by France is a study of the economic impact of Nîmes airport, carried out in 2006.
Denna ytterligare trafik som motsvarar den andra avgången under sommarsäsongen 2002 är den enda trafikökning som hör ihop med utbytet av skrivelser mellan slutet av 2001 och början av 2002, eftersom skrivelserna, förutom för sommarsäsongen 2002, inte var menade att ändra den dagliga avgång som avsågs i avtalet av den 11 april 2000 för förbindelsen mellan Nîmes och London.
This study focuses on the economic impact of the airport’s activity, and particularly the routes operated by Ryanair from this airport, on the region’s economy.
Kommissionen har alltså tagit med denna ytterligare trafik i sin analys liksom de ytterligare intäkter och driftskostnader som hör ihop med denna, enligt de principer som avses ovan.
It is not therefore relevant for the purpose of applying the MEO test, in relation to which only the airport’s profitability is important.
I tabell 7 i detta skäl presenteras resultaten av denna analys.
According to Ryanair, the lack of a business plan when agreements such as those covered by the formal investigation procedure are signed cannot be used as evidence that the MEO test is not satisfied.
Tabell 7
The Commission considers that the lack of a business plan, or more generally any profitability analysis carried out prior to the signature of an agreement, is a serious indication that the agreements signed by the CCI with Ryanair and AMS do not satisfy the MEO test, particularly as neither France nor the CCI has been able to provide, in respect of these agreements, any profitability analysis, even incomplete, that was carried out before the agreements were signed.
Sammanfattning av rekonstruktionen av lönsamhetsanalysen i förväg vad gäller utbytet av skrivelserna mellan slutet av 2001 och början av 2002
This observation is also largely valid for VTAN, which, although it produced a solid and detailed business plan for the entire airport operation, did not subsequently carry out, according to the facts on record, any specific profitability analysis of the various agreements signed with Ryanair and AMS prior to their signature, even though it could have used the aforementioned business plan for this purpose.
Utbytet av skrivelser under 2004
According to France, ‘the operator in place initially made its decisions based on traffic growth prospects that allowed the launch of new services to be envisaged, not to mention a direct economic impact potentially resulting for the airport, in the light of the expected economic impact on the region’.
Villkoren i avtalet av den 11 april 2000 ändrades igen, men denna gång för en kortare period, genom de skrivelser och e-postmeddelanden som utbyttes mellan den 10 och den 16 mars 2004 (nedan kallat utbytet av skrivelser under 2004).
This further suggests that the agreements with Ryanair and AMS do not satisfy the MEO test.
Det framgår av detta utbyte av skrivelser och de förklaringar som lämnats av Frankrike i denna fråga att detta ledde till en ändring av avtalet av den 11 april 2000 genom en höjning av betalningen för marknadsföringstjänsterna med […] euro per avresande passagerare under perioden mellan den 29 april och den 31 oktober 2004 (nedan kallad sommarsäsongen 2004), under förutsättning att Ryanair lade till en ytterligare daglig avgång på förbindelsen till London under denna period.
This is also clearly indicated by the fact that, just before becoming the airport operator, Veolia Transport took the view that the Ryanair traffic was likely to erode the airport’s profitability.
Enligt Frankrike motsvarar denna andra ytterligare avgång 185 möjliga ytterligare flygningar under sommarsäsongen 2004, vilket på grundval av ett plan med plats för 148 passagerare och en beläggningskoefficient på 75 % kunde leda till en ytterligare trafik på 41070 passagerare.
As stated previously, the documents that Veolia Transport submitted in the invitation to tender procedure thus indicate that: ‘Moreover, in the long term, the replacement of Ryanair’s activity (company benefiting from particularly favourable conditions at the airport) could have been positively offset by the arrival of companies likely to accept less economically burdensome conditions for the airport operator …’; ‘The transfer of the risk, above […] %, by the Delegating Authority was justified by the strategic nature for the Gard economy of the tourist traffic brought by Ryanair; in fact, as we explained in our tender, the arrival of this company (under particularly advantageous conditions) had negative economic implications for the airport’s operation, but quite clearly positive implications for the local economy’; ‘Ryanair typically chooses small or medium-sized airports, particularly in France, with which the company negotiates extremely advantageous material and/or financial conditions’; ‘All in all, adding together the main agreement and the Airport Marketing Services agreement, the operations with Ryanair resulted in a negative turnover (between EUR […] thousand and EUR […] thousand according to the bid and traffic configurations, i.e. an average cost to the airport per outbound passenger of around EUR […] to EUR […] excluding tax per head)’.
Antagandet av en belastningsfaktor på 75 % som föreslagits av Frankrike tycks rimligt eftersom utbytet av skrivelser under 2004 inte förutsåg några ytterligare marknadsföringsinsatser, från Ryanairs eller industri- och handelskammarens sida, i syfte att öka trafiken på ett påtagligt sätt jämfört med den trafik som tidigare uppnåtts.
As explained further on, these various indications are confirmed by the Commission’s assessment of the profitability analysis that a hypothetical MEO would have carried out.
När det rör sig om de ytterligare marknadsföringskostnaderna har kommissionen i sin analys tagit med den särskilda höjning som förutsågs för sommarsäsongen 2004 för samtliga passagerare (och inte bara de som motsvarade den ytterligare avgången).
In response to this invitation, France provided a reconstruction of the projected incremental costs and revenues associated with each agreement signed with Ryanair and AMS.
Tabell 8
With regard to the CCI operating period, this analysis is mainly based on ex post data, i.e. data observed after the agreements were signed.
sammanfattning av rekonstruktionen av lönsamhetsanalysen i förväg vad gäller utbytet av skrivelser under 2004
As a result, the method used by France involved calculating the average unit costs and revenues per passenger based on the airport’s operating costs and revenues observed during the 2000-2006 period.
Avtalen från 2005
In its analysis of each agreement, France multiplied these data by the projected incremental traffic for each agreement, i.e. the traffic that, on the signature of the agreement, this could be expected to generate.
Genom avtalet om flygplatstjänster av den 10 oktober 2005 och det avtal om marknadsföringstjänster som ingicks samma dag (nedan kallade 2005 års avtal) åtog sig Ryanair att driva
As this analysis is mainly based on cost and revenue data observed after the various agreements were signed, and not necessarily on information foreseeable at the time when the agreements were signed, this method cannot reflect the profitability analysis that an MEO would have carried out before deciding whether to enter into these agreements.
en förbindelse till London med en avgång per dag, plus en extra daglig avgång under sommarsäsongen 2005, under sex månader,