Judgment of the Conseil d’État (French supreme administrative court) dated 27 November 2020 on the State’s liability regime in the event of abusive support given to a company whose situation is irretrievably compromised.

A particularly instructive judgment of the Conseil d’État (French supreme administrative court) dated 27 November 2020 on the State’s liability regime in the event of abusive support given to a company whose situation is irretrievably compromised. 🧧 “6. It follows that, in holding that public aid granted to a private company whose situation was irretrievably compromised at the date the aid was granted is not capable of engaging the fault-based liability of the public body on the ground that this aid, by enabling the company to continue its activity, contributed to deepening its liabilities — save where the company was not in a position to refuse the aid, in particular by reason of constraint exercised against it, of fraud (dol) or of characterised interference in its management, or where the guarantees taken were disproportionate to the support granted — without applying the principles set out in point 5 above, the Court of Appeal erred in law.” 🤔 A line of case law that is bound to resurface when the time comes to repay the State-Guaranteed Loans (Prêts Garantis par l’État).