(31) Article 1 of Law No 163 of 1 October 2010 converting Decree-Law No 125 of 5 August 2010 (‘the 2010 Law’) laid down the further prolongation of the initial Conventions from 1 October 2010 until the completion of the privatisation processes of Tirrenia and Siremar, which took place on 19 July 2012 and 31 July 2012 respectively.
(32) In view of the provisions of Article 19
-ter
of the 2009 Law, the Region of Lazio has established on 1 December 2010, by means of Regional law No 2/2010, a public limited company for the regional maritime cabotage services, called Laziomar, in order to acquire the branch of Caremar that was operating the Pontino archipelago routes and to subsequently be privatised.
(33) On 7 March 2011, Caremar sold its branch concerning the Pontino archipelago routes to Laziomar. The latter, commenced operating the routes on 1 June 2011.
(34) According to the Region of Lazio Decree No 508 of 28 October 2011 (‘the Lazio Decree’), guidelines were provided concerning the privatisation process of Laziomar bundled with the conclusion of the new public service contract for the Pontino archipelago routes.
(35) Further, according to Law No 228 of 24 December 2012, the Region of Lazio entrusted, on the basis of a ‘bridge’ contract, Laziomar with the obligation to ensure the territorial continuity of the Pontino archipelago routes until its privatisation, under the same conditions. This contract was signed on 12 February 2013 and remained in force until Laziomar’s privatisation.
2.1.3.
The privatisation of Laziomar and the conclusion of the new service contract
(36) In February 2012, a tender procedure was launched (see Section 2.3.2) to find a buyer for Laziomar bundled together with the new public service contract for the provision of maritime services over a period of 10 years in exchange of public service compensation.
(37) Following a successful offer in the tender procedure, Compagnia Laziale di Navigazione S.r.l. (‘CLN’) became the new owner of Laziomar. The sale contract between the Region of Lazio and CLN was signed on 30 December 2013. On 15 January 2014, the Region of Lazio and Laziomar signed the new service contract for the provision of maritime services in the Pontino archipelago.
2.2.
Measures in scope of the 2011 and 2012 Decisions
(38) The following measures have been subject to assessment in the formal investigation procedure opened by the 2011 and 2012 Decisions:
(a) Compensation for the provision of services of general economic interest (‘SGEI’) under the prolongation of the initial Conventions (
measure 1
);
(b) Potential misuse of rescue aid by Tirrenia and Siremar (
measure 2
);
(c) The privatisation of the companies of the former Tirrenia Group (20) (
measure 3
);
(d) Compensation paid for the operation of SGEI under the new Conventions / Public Service Contracts (
measure 4
);
(e) The berthing priority (
measure 5
);
(f) The measures laid down by the 2010 Law converting Decree Law 125/2010 (
measure 6
);
(g) Additional measures adopted by the Region of Sardinia in favour of Saremar
(measure 7
);
(39) By its 2014 Decision the Commission closed the formal investigation procedure as concerns the measures adopted by the Region of Sardinia in favour of Saremar referred to above as Measure 7 with the exception of one measure (21).
2.3.
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