Judgment_paragraph 38 · French Republic v European Commission (T-1/12)

38First, as regards whether the Commission was right to find that the loans at issue could not be dissociated from the recapitalisation and the rescue aid, it should be noted first of all that in recital 129 in the preamble to the contested decision, in response to the French authorities’ arguments that the loans at issue were granted under market conditions and therefore met the private investor test, the Commission stated as follows:‘… [I]n the present case, the SNCF has already granted aid to SeaFrance, notably rescue aid, and is planning to grant new aid, i.e. the recapitalisation. The loans pursue the same purpose as the other aid measures, i.e. the rescue and restructuring of SeaFrance. They will be granted at a time when SeaFrance is a firm in difficulty and at the same time as the restructuring aid. This is self-evident as regards the loan of EUR 99.7 million, which is intended — just like the recapitalisation — to enable SeaFrance to meet its current capital requirements. However, it is also true of the loan of EUR [confidential] million, which serves to refinance and exercise the purchase option under the leasing contract for the vessel Molière earlier than provided for. In fact, the financing of means of production, here the vessel, is closely linked to the day-to-day activities of SeaFrance. Through the refinancing and early purchase under the leasing contract, SeaFrance aims to reduce its operating costs, which comes under the restructuring of the company. Consequently, the loan of EUR [confidential] million also comes under the logic of restructuring SeaFrance’.