Even the last of the bridging loans granted to moribund Alitalia was illegal. With a decision “expected” by the government and “widely expected” also in the EU buildings, Brussels has put an end to its investigations into state aid given by Rome between 2017 and 2019 to the former flag carrier in a last-ditch attempt – then shipwrecked – to revive her. Noting that, with the final payment of 400 million euros, Italy has closed both eyes to the impossibility of the carrier to repay the loans, worrying only about keeping it artificially alive. An illicit conduct, guilty of altering competition on the European market, and which Italy will now have to atone for by recovering the entire amount of the subsidies – 1.3 billion euros – plus interest. In any case, the burden of the reimbursement will not fall on the shoulders of the newco Ita: for Brussels it is not the economic heir of Alitalia. An assessment expressed in 2021 and which for the Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, shows the righteousness of the government action, committed to ensuring that the newco is in total discontinuity with the old company and capable of standing on its own legs.
ANSA agency
From capital interventions to bridging loans (ANSA)
The result of an investigation that lasted almost three years, the announcement by the EU Antitrust follows the decision already taken in 2021 on bridging loans dating back to 2017, when the government led by Paolo Gentiloni agreed to divert aid for 900 million euros to Alitalia then deemed illegal by the services of Margrethe Vestager. And it seals the judgment of “incompatibility” with the community treaties. The new – and last – 400 million euro loan, dated 26 October 2019 and signed by the Conte bis, in Brussels’ assessment, “gave” the former national carrier “an unfair economic advantage over its competitors on national routes , European and global”. And, is the Commission’s further charge, “Italy did not behave as a private investor would have done” who, faced with reduced hopes of obtaining a refund, would not have exposed himself at the time by granting further aid to the carrier. The loan – the last of the Alitalia era which since 1974 has presented a bill of 10.40 billion to the State, equal in Assoutenti’s estimates to 519 euros per family “between bailouts, capital increases and public contributions” – could not be not even approved as bailout aid because, Brussels still increases, after the previous subsidies it was no longer a one-off measure. All knots that are now coming home to roost: Rome is called to recover the entire 1.3 billion euro package. However, he will not have to ask for them back from Ita which, despite having been born from his ashes, does not represent “the economic successor” of Alitalia for the EU. And, faced with the bankruptcy of the former national carrier, the way indicated by Brussels is to use, as far as possible, the proceeds from the sale of the assets. Any remaining amount will be forfeited. A decision which, claimed Giorgetti, “is the demonstration” that Italy is “right” and intends to “continue on this path” for the independence of the newco. But that marks an only ephemeral victory for Italian consumers because, in the laconic comment of Condacons, the money “will hardly be able to be recovered and return to the availability of the community”.
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