EU State Aid Row Over Ryanair Rumbles On

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

25 June 2004

As the row over state aid payments made to Ryanair rumbles on between the Walloon authorities in Belgium and the European Commission, the low cost carrier has revealed that whatever the result of its Court of First Instance (CFI) appeal, it will not pay back any portion of aid received in return for flying to Charleroi airport.

According to an Irish Independent report, alleging that the regional Belgian authority failed to furnish it with sufficient information following its first request in May, the EC has given the Walloon local government just 15 days to respond to its demands regarding a calculation of how much state aid Ryanair received.

A spokesman for the airline told the Irish newspaper that: "It's really down to the European Commission, which says it has written to the Walloons and it's a matter for them."

However, it seems clear that whatever the response of the Belgian authorities to the EC's request for information, the European body stands little chance of persuading the low cost airline to pay back the EUR3 million which it estimates was paid illegitimately.

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