ESA opens formal investigation procedure into alleged state aid to Bane NOR
Today, the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) has decided to open a formal investigation procedure regarding alleged unlawful state aid granted by Norway to Bane NOR and some contractual partners.
ESA’s to initiate a formal investigation procedure follows a complaint alleging that two support measures to respectively Bane NOR and some of its contractual partners constitute unlawful state aid.
The first measure investigated concerns an allegation that Bane NOR received aid by using its publicly funded telecoms infrastructure to cross-subsidise its commercial offering of passive infrastructure and dark fibre to third parties.
The second measure concerns alleged aid provided to some of Bane NOR’s contractual partners, who would contribute to building infrastructure in return for long-term access rights, and SWAP agreements, in which two parties exchange fibre capacity over a set period.
ESA will now investigate whether the two measures constitute state aid and, if so, whether they are compatible with EEA rules. Interested parties will be invited to submit their comments within one month of the date of publication of the decision in the EEA Supplement of the OJ.