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Ryanair is being investigated for avoiding approximately €4.5m (£3.9m) in payroll tax responsibilities in France. The firm is alleged to have employed 120 individuals in the country on Irish contracts. Under the law of the European Union (EU), this is only allowed for short times or if the employee is working in more than one nation.

French authorities, who raided the offices of the airline company at the Marseilles airport, suspect that the Dublin, Ireland-based firm currently employs 120 individuals in France, which includes 30 pilots, although it settles these employees’ social charges in the firm’s mother country.

The social security of France and other payroll taxes are thrice higher than Ireland’s, and that the responsibility of settling these greatly depends on the employer. By having French-based employees on Irish deals, the airline company is charged of unfair competition, and on a larger scale, cheating the government of France.

An official probe was launched against the firm by the Aix-en-Provence region’s public prosecutor. The Irish firm is being charged of “illicit employment of flight crew” and “illicit lending out of workers”.

The airline said that it has not received any information on the probe and cannot comment on the matter. Judicial officials in France are anticipated to push for an international warrant to investigate senior executives of the firm in Dublin.

It is also noted that there are controversial areas in the EU law regarding the settlement of social charges.

Moreover, the airline has also been charged by Air France of acquiring illicit public subsidies coming from local officials in France to fly to various regional airports. On the other hand, the firm has filed a countersuit versus Air France, charging the flag-carrier of France of landing advantages as well as hidden subsidies coming from the state.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the second day of his trip in Paris with hopes to improve the ties between the two nations, despite the tough opposition of France to the membership of Turkey in the European Union.

Sarkozy reiterated that his country is against the membership of Turkey in the EU during the visit of Erdogan in Paris on Wednesday.

During the meeting, the French president accepted the invitation made by the Turkish prime minister to visit Turkey to observe the development of the country himself, but the two leaders repeated their broadly contradicting views about the potential membership of Turkey in the EU.

“We agree to disagree”, said European Affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche in a press conference after the meeting between Erdogan and Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

“Turkey has its project, that of integrating with the 27 (EU members). We respect this project but we have our own project, that of a big Europe, the 27 in a partnership with Russia and Turkey”, added Lellouche.

As the concern on EU membership continued to become a source of conflict between Turkey and Europe, Ankara came out as a progressively significant actor in the international politics, particularly on the issue about the nuclear arms programme of Iran.

While the Western nations demand for another round of sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council, where Turkey is not a permanent member, Erdogan expressed scepticism regarding the plan.

During the meeting with Sarkozy on Wednesday, he again stated that he wanted diplomatic resolution for the conflict over Iran, said a source close to the office of the French president.

The French Ministry of Finance has said that both Germany and France will actively support the launch of a ‘systemic risk tax’ within the G20 and the structure of the European Union, after French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde’s recent visit to Germany.

The French Finance Ministry has welcomed the German government’s decision to initiate a legal mechanism to resolve future crisis and restructure banks, which include the introduction of a stability fee involving a systemic risk tax.

It has also emphasised that such measures will reduce risk, boost the German fiscal system and effectively contribute to the international discussion on reduction of systemic risk.

Experience on recent fiscal crisis has emphasised the need for an effective legal framework to resolve banking crisis, it has said.

The French Finance Ministry has highlighted that the framework’s main objectives should be to allow authorities to intervene early in cases of crisis, and to handle the bank’s restructuring.

The ministry underscored in its statement the need for a harmonised European framework in order to manage cross-border banking crises, similar to what the European Commission has proposed.

It has also announced that it will support the introduction of a financial contribution for the finance sector to be accountable for the negative effects it produces.

The French Finance Ministry has confirmed that it will support the strengthening of the banking sector’s prudential supervision, particularly through the fast formation of a European systemic risk committee and via the efficient introduction to all nations of regulations and principles defined by the Financial Stability Council.