European Commission 6 November 2015, Commission Decision (EU) 2016/285 of 6 November 2015 on the state aid SA.38545 2014/C (ex 2014/NN) implemented by the French Republic in favour of Mory — Ducros SAS and MoryGlobal (notified under document C(2015) 7523) (Text with EEA relevance)

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The European Commission found that France unlawfully implemented State aid in breach of Article 108(3) TFEU by granting MoryGlobal an FDES (Economic and Social Development Fund) participating loan of EUR 17.5 million at a 1% interest rate—below the market-conform rate of 10.53% calculated under the 2008 Communication—and by bearing the costs of an enhanced support facility and a degressive temporary allowance facility (allocation temporaire dégressive) in favour of redundant Mory-Ducros SAS employees, which conferred an economic advantage on both MoryGlobal and Mory-Ducros SAS that they would not have obtained under normal market conditions. The Commission determined that the aid was incompatible with the internal market under the 2004 Guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid, as France submitted neither a restructuring plan nor compensatory measures, and MoryGlobal, as a newly created entity emerging from MD's liquidation, was in any event ineligible for restructuring aid. France was ordered to recover the incompatible aid from MoryGlobal, which was also held liable as the economic successor to Mory-Ducros SAS on the basis of established economic continuity between the two entities, with recovery to be registered in MoryGlobal's court-supervised liquidation proceedings.AI