Press Release: State aid: Commission approves public financing worth €59 million for broadband project in the French Hauts-de-Seine department

Under the EC Treaty rules on state aid, the European Commission approved public co-financing of the roll-out of a passive, neutral and open broadband network covering the entire French department of Hauts-de-Seine, including the non-profitable areas. The Commission concluded that the public funding amounting to €59 million would be used to offset the cost of complying with the obligations of a service of general economic interest imposed following an open and transparent tendering procedure, and did not therefore constitute state aid. In particular, the compensation did not exceed the cost of rolling-out the network in the non-profitable areas of the French department. The Commission's examination found that the plan was in accordance with the precedent established in the Court of Justice 'Altmark' case and with the new Guidelines on the application of state aid rules to the financing of high-speed and very high-speed broadband networks.