Rail freight transport: Commission greenlights French scheme to partially compensate pension contributions
The Commission has approved a EUR 225 million French scheme to reimburse rail freight companies for the T2 social surcharge they must pay for certain statutory employees, which finances additional pension benefits for employees under the SNCF statutory pension scheme. Since 2020, former SNCF staff who move to other railway companies keep their pension rights, requiring their new employers to pay the T2 charge. The aid will apply for ten years from 1 January 2025.
The Commission approved the measure under Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’), which enables Member States to support the development of certain economic activities subject to certain conditions. It found that the scheme contributes to the development of rail freight sector as it liberates the companies active in that sector of a legacy cost. Furthermore, it considers that (i) the scheme is necessary for enhancing the fluidity of recruitments of the relevant workers while keeping them within the rail freight sector, (ii) it appropriately addresses the issue of phasing out of the statutory scheme in the rail freight sector and (iii) it is proportionate as it is limited in time and in scope and covers only the exact amount of individual T2 contributions to pe paid by the beneficiary companies.
For more information, see the Commission’s PR.