Eutelsat Com Regulatory News (ETL)

26 Feb 2007 08:30

Eurotunnel PLC/Eurotunnel S.A.26 February 2007 26 February 2007 Immediate release Illegal immigrants: Decision in Eurotunnel's favour Following the disturbances caused to its business by the intrusion of illegalmigrants coming from the Sangatte centre between 2000 and 2002, Eurotunnel hadpetitioned the ad hoc Tribunal*, on 17 December 2003, under the legislationrelating to the Concession**, to seek compensation for damages suffered. In its ruling of 30 January 2007 published on 23 February 2007, the ad hocArbitration Tribunal has recognised Eurotunnel's right to compensation. Theamount will be determined by the Tribunal at a later date. The ruling, made public at the conclusion of the first phase, recognises thatthe two States, United Kingdom and France, must, under the terms of theConcession, "take all measures (...) necessary for the operation of the fixedlink by the concessionaires (...)". The Tribunal concludes that theconcessionaires (The Channel Tunnel Group Limited and France Manche SA) have theright to be compensated for losses which result from the States defaulting ontheir responsibilities as those who have granted the concession. The Tribunal must now set a timetable for the second phase of the procedure todetermine the amount of loss and its compensation. In 2004, Eurotunnel estimatedthe loss over the period at £30 million, of which £17 million was security costsand £13 million was lost revenues. At 31 December 2006, the loss is estimated ataround £35 million. *Composition of the International Arbitration Tribunal which heard the petitionsunder the jurisdiction of the permanent court of Arbitration and in the premisesof the Court of International Justice in The Hague: Chairman: Professor James Crawford, Judges nominated by the Concessionaires:Maitres Yves Fortier and Jan Paulson, Judge nominated by the French government:SE le Juge Gilbert Guillaume, Judge nominated by the British government: themost honourable Lord Millet ** ad hoc international Tribunal Arbitral as set out in article 19 of the Treatyof Canterbury, in article 40 of the Concession Agreement of 1986 and theArbitration Protocol of 1987 NB: The Tribunal has also examined a petition which Eurotunnel joined to theprocess in December 2004, relating to the distortion of competition created bythe excessive support received from the authorities by SeaFrance since 1998 inthe form of recapitalisation, the use of the GIE fiscal status and thereimbursement of employer's contributions and other public guarantees. Thisadditional request concerning SeaFrance was rejected because the Tribunalbelieved that the texts of the Concession agreement did not allow it to rule onthis part of the litigation. No 008/2007 For media enquiries contact The Press Office on + 44 (0) 1303 284491.Email: press@eurotunnel.com www.eurotunnel.com Eurotunnel manages the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel and operatesaccompanied truck shuttle and passenger shuttle (car and coach) services betweenFolkestone, UK and Calais, France. Eurotunnel also earns toll revenue fromtrain operators (Eurostar for rail passengers, and EWS and SNCF for railfreight) which use the Tunnel. Eurotunnel is quoted in London, Paris andBrussels. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange