Commissie staat steun toe van Frankrijk aan reizigers van Réunion naar het vasteland (en)

The European Commission today approved changes to a social State aid scheme, without altering its duration, for certain categories of passengers flying from Réunion to mainland France. The aim of the changes is to respond more effectively to the permanent disadvantage faced by the inhabitants of the island in that they have to contend with far higher transport costs than the inhabitants of mainland France.

The changes made to aid scheme N 607/2004, which was approved by the Commission on 20 July 2005, are aimed at improving the mobility of the residents of Réunion between the island and mainland France and increasing the incentive nature of the aid provided for in the initial scheme, the results of which have been much less successful than expected[1].

The changes notified:

(a) extend eligibility for the scheme to residents over 18 years of age, people obliged to travel to mainland France for professional or personal reasons (for example, to sit a competitive or professional examination, to take up employment, to attend a family funeral, to accompany a sick child, to accompany a disabled person, etc) and to students (to promote educational and sporting mobility); and

(b) increase the budget from €8.1 million to €8.6 million per annum. The aid intensity will vary between 30% and 100% of the price of a return ticket per person per annum.

All the other details concerning the operation of scheme N 607/2004 will remain unchanged. In particular, the aid will be granted to those entitled regardless of the airline with which they travel and on scheduled services between Réunion and mainland France. It will benefit final consumers.

Although the Commission considers that the changes made to scheme N 607/2004 constitute State aid to airlines, in line with its consistent practice[2] it took the view that they do not alter the appraisal of the initial measure.

The decision will soon be available on the Commission's website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

[1] While the Region had estimated that 32 500 passengers would benefit each year, in practice only 850 tickets were subsidised during the first few months of the operation of the scheme .

[2] Commission Decisions of 29 July1998 concerning air transport compensation for residents of the Canaries (N 387/1998) and the Balearic Islands (N 386/1998). Commission Decision of 27 August 1998 concerning services between Madeira and the rest of Portugal (N 414/1998). Commission Decision of 3 September 1999 concerning services to the minor islands of Sicily (N 399/1999). Commission Decision of 1 March 2000 concerning services between Marseille and Nice and Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi and Figari (N 24/2000). Commission Decision of 3 May 2005 on the review of social individual aid schemes for air services between Marseille and Corsica, Nice and Corsica, Montpellier and Corsica and Lyon and Corsica (NN 52/2003).