Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 2 1 thereof;. Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62 1 a thereof 1 ,. Having invited the interested parties to submit their comments in accordance with the said Articles 3 , and having regard to those comments,. The contract concerns the shipping routes between Corsica and Marseille during the period By letters dated 20 May , 16 July , 22 March , 22 June , 15 December and 10 January the complainant sent additional information in support of its complaint.
By letters dated 17 March , 12 November , 13 October and 14 December the Commission requested additional information from France. The French authorities sent their comments and replies by letters dated 3 June , 14 January , 7 December and 20 January The French authorities submitted their comments and answers to questions contained in the opening decision in letters dated 13 July , 7 September , 14 November and 16 January By letters dated 22 October and 21 December , the Commission forwarded these observations to the French authorities.
France sent its observations on the comments of the third parties by letters dated 3 January and 12 February As stated in the opening decision, the territorial continuity between Corsica and the mainland was provided by the first year concession signed in between SNCM and CMN, on the one hand and the State, on the other. For the other lines, a social assistance system 5 was set up in parallel. This system, and its extension for , was approved by the Commission 6.
This agreement will expire on 31 December For many years, the routes to Corsica have been very seasonal, with the bulk of passenger traffic during the summer months. During the s, the main trend in the transport markets between Corsica and the French mainland was the development of the offer of crossings from Toulon, now the main port offering services to Corsica in terms of traffic.
It is particularly important to note that the trend towards more traffic from Toulon predates the establishment of the social assistance system in and has continued since 7. This trend is consistent with the increase in the market share of the company Corsica Ferries. SNCM is a shipping company with its registered office in Marseille and was selected by the French government to ensure territorial continuity with Corsica in This privatisation process included a clause on termination in favour of Butler Capital Partners and Veolia, and could be invoked by the buyers, particularly in the following cases:.
