The French Administrative Court of Appeal of Paris rejects a claim for damages brought by the beneficiary of an unlawful State aid (Salmon Arc-en-Ciel)

Factual Background A Law of 12 April 1996 gives the State the ability to conclude framework agreements with professional branches in the textile, clothing, leather and shoe sector in order to maintain or develop employment in these sectors ("Borotra plan"). The agreements enable the undertakings which signed the agreements to benefit from an exemption in respect of the payment of social security contributions for a certain tranche of salaries. To implement this system, the applicant signed an agreement with the French government. It then benefited from exemptions in respect of several commitments. In parallel, the scheme was notified to the Commission on 26 March 1996 and on 21 May 1996, the European Commission initiated a formal investigation proceeding pursuant to Article 88(2) EC.