EU: France ordered to recover €1.37 billion in state aid from EDF

The European Commission on Wednesday ordered France to recover €1.37 billion of government aid given to Electricité de France, the country’s state-owned electricity provider.

The move revives a long-running state aid probe into one of France’s largest companies over a tax break it was granted in 1997.“The Commission’s investigation confirmed that EDF received an individual, unjustified tax exemption which gave it an advantage to the detriment of its competitors, in breach of EU state aid rules,” said Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition.

According to the Commission, France allowed EDF to exempt investments worth 14.1 billion French francs (around €2 billion) from tax when the company restructured its balance sheet in 1997. EDF had initially put aside money to invest in France’s high-voltage transmission network.

This is the second time that the Commission has tried to recoup illegal state aid from EDF.

Full content: The Wall Street Journal

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