The European Commission has agreed a €853.6 mill public service compensation for Corsica Linea and La Méridionale is in line with EU state aid rules.
The aid will compensate both companies for the provision of passenger and freight transport services between Marseille and Corsica (Ajaccio, Bastia, Propriano, Porto-Vecchio and L’Île Rousse) in 2023/2030.
In February 2024, the EC opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether a public service compensation awarded to Corsica Linea and La Méridionale (alone or jointly) under five public service contracts for the period between 1st January, 2023 to 31st December, 2030 was in line with EU state aid rules, and specifically the Service of General Economic Interest (SGEI) Framework.
In particular, the EC took the preliminary view that the French authorities needed to further justify why the inclusion of certain public service obligations in the five public service contracts corresponded to a genuine public service need.
This concerned first the existence of a genuine need for transport of towed freight traffic between Marseille and the five Corsican ports, since the market seemed already able to deliver similar services to Corsica from neighbouring ports.
Second, the public service contracts required from the beneficiaries of the contracts to transport a minimum volume of freight traffic per crossing between Marseille and the five Corsican ports that may have been seen as disproportionate, compared with the volume of freight needed to meet the demand of the users of the transport services.
After an in-depth investigation, the EC concluded that the measures were in line with EU state aid rules.
Submissions from France and interested parties clarified the questions initially raised by the Commission. In particular, the French authorities demonstrated that market forces alone could not meet the entire users demand for towed freight between the port of Marseille and the five Corsican ports.
The EC first found that the market offer between Marseille and Corsica was irregular and insufficient. It further established that, as far as the transport of towed freight was concerned, Marseille was substitutable with neighbouring ports only to a limited extent.
Therefore, the market offer available in the neighbouring ports could not satisfy the entire demand of users using the port of Marseille for their trade of towed freight with Corsica.
The EC also found that the minimum volumes of freight to be transported set by the public service contracts were not manifestly disproportionate. In particular, it found that the French authorities had set those volumes by taking into consideration the need to avoid any saturation of the ships and ensure a seamless flow of the goods.
During the formal investigation, the EC closely examined the historical data and forecast traffic provided by France. Those elements proved that there was a serious risk that such saturation could occur on a regular basis over the duration of the contracts, which could ultimately harm the proper functioning of the public services and affect the users’ needs.
On this basis, the EC approved the French measures.
Under EU state aid rules on public service compensation, and in particular under the SGEI Framework, adopted in 2012, companies can be compensated for the extra cost of providing a public service under certain conditions.
This enables EU member states to grant state aid for the provision of public services, while making sure that companies are not overcompensated, which minimises distortions of competition and ensures an efficient use of public resources.
