BRUSSELS, Belgium-The European Commission launched an investigation into a $9.7 billion loan to France Telecom by the French government last year. The commission said that because the state support is provided through a “complex financial transaction,” it will examine in detail the way in which the shareholder’s advanced was granted and the business tax scheme for France Telecom.
“The Commission cannot rule out the possibility that the financial measures put in place by the state for FT contain elements of state aid,” the commission said.
The EU will examine whether French authorities provided FT with funding that it could have obtained under normal market conditions and whether the state acted like a private investor. The commission said it has not ruled out “the possibility that FT is enjoying an advantage not available under normal market conditions.”
France Telecom called the investigation “a routine and necessary initiative” and said that the French government’s participation in the company is “no different to that of a private investor and does not contain any element of state aid.”
