7.11.2006 Official Journal of the European Union L 307/205 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 March 2006 on State Aid — France — Aid to rescue and restructure the Air Lib company (notified under document number C(2006) 649) (Only the French text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2006/745[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (1), Whereas: L PROCEDURE By letter of 22 January 2002 France notified the European Commission of aid to rescue the airline parent holding company AOM Air Liberté (hereinafter referred to as ‘Air Lib’ or ‘the company’). Having been implemented unlawfully, before its approval by the Commission, this measure was registered as non- notified aid under number NN 42/2002. By letter of 24 January 2003 (SG (2003) D/228222), the Commission informed France of its decision to initiate the procedure under Article 88(2) of the Treaty in respect of this aid. The Commission decision initiating the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Commu- nities (}). The Commission invited interested parties to comment on the aid in question within one month of the date of publication, i.e. by 11 May 2003. The Commission has received comments on this subject from one interested party by letters of 9 and 12 May 2003. Following the Commission’s request made on 21 May, this third party agreed to waive the confidentiality of its comments. The comments were therefore conveyed to France by letter of 23 June 2003 and France was given one month to respond. At the same time, France responded to the initiation of the procedure by letter of 19 May 2003. (") Decision of 21 January 2003 published in O] C 88, 11.4.2003, p. 11. () See footnote on page 1. (6) L. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID Context Following the decision by their former shareholders, and particularly Swissair, to no longer continue their investment strategy, and confronted with a lack of new investors, the companies Air Liberté AOM (formerly AOM Minerve), Air Liberté and five subsidiary companies were subject to compulsory administration proceedings by the Créteil Commercial Court on 19 June 2001. On 27 July 2001, the Court handed over the assets of the administered companies for one symbolic franc to the Holco company, then to any subsidiary which it controlled. Air Lib (the trade name of the parent holding company AOM Air Liberté SA), a subsidiary of Holco SAS, itself owned almost 100 % by Mr Corbet, was constituted to this effect on 24 August 2001. On 1 August 2001, the Court also endorsed the principle of the transaction proposed by the former sharcholders through which Swissair undertook to pay FRF 1,5 billion (i.e. €228,7 million). By the beginning of September 2001, before its own bankruptcy, Swissair had in fact paid over only FRF 1 050 million (or €160 million). Following this lack of funding and the additional difficulties caused by the events of 11 September 2001, the company forecast losses in 2001 and 2002. So France provided aid to rescue the company. €16,5 million of this aid, to last for a maximum of six months, but renewable and as a part of a maximum amount of €30,5 million (FRF 200 million) had already been paid by 9 January 2002. The balance of €14 million was paid on 28 February 2002. This aid would have covered only a part of the company’s short-term require- ments. In the absence of any notification of a plan to restructure the company or proof that the loan had been reimbursed, the Commission pointed out to France on 9 July 2002 that it was pursuing its analysis of this dossier from the angle of an aid for restructuring that had been granted unlawfully.