The State aid scheme for the remuneration of the current accounts held by Poste Italiane with the State Treasury under Act No 266 of 23 December 2005 and the Agreement of 23 February 2006 between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and Poste Italiane, which Italy has unlawfully put into effect in breach of Article 88(3) of the Treaty, is incompatible with the common market.
2009/178/EC: Commission Decision of 16 July 2008 on a State aid scheme implemented by Italy to remunerate current accounts held by Poste Italiane with the State Treasury (C 42/06 (ex NN 52/06)) (notified under document number C(2008) 3492) (Text with EEA relevance)
2009/178/EC: Commission Decision of 16 July 2008 on a State aid scheme implemented by Italy to remunerate current accounts held by Poste Italiane with the State Treasury (C 42/06 (ex NN 52/06)) (notified under document number C(2008) 3492) (Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof,
Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof,
Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above(1) and having regard to their comments,
Whereas:
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
Article 2
Italy shall bring the scheme referred to in Article 1 to an end with effect from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 3
1.
Italy shall recover the incompatible aid granted under the scheme referred to in Article 1 from the beneficiary.
2.
The amount to be recovered shall be equal to the difference between the annual remuneration paid on current accounts held by Poste Italiane with the State Treasury under the Agreement referred to in Article 1 and the amount arrived at by applying the test of the prudent borrower operating in a market economy as shown in Table 6a in this Decision.
3.
The sums to be recovered shall bear interest from the date on which they were put at the disposal of the beneficiary until their actual recovery.
4.
The interest shall be calculated on a compound basis in accordance with Chapter V of Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 271/2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 794/2004.
5.
Italy shall cancel all outstanding payments of aid under the scheme referred to in Article 1 with effect from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 4
1.
Recovery of the aid referred to in Article 1 shall be immediate and effective.
2.
Italy shall ensure that this Decision is implemented within four months of the date of its notification.