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This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has launched a public consultation inviting Member States and other stakeholders to provide their views and comments on the existing EU State aid rules on public support for the deployment of broadband networks. The public consultation is part of an overall […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a German State guarantee scheme worth €840 million to cover vouchers issued by travel operators for cancelled travel packages booked prior to 8 March 2020. This scheme is in line with the objectives pursued […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved three Italian schemes, with an overall budget of €6 billion, mainly consisting of incentives to the recapitalisation by private investors of small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The three schemes were approved directly under Article […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved Spanish plans to set up a fund (Solvency Support Fund) with a budget of €10 billion that will invest through debt and equity instruments in companies active in Spain affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found an Austrian €150 million subordinated loan (convertible into a grant) in favour of Austrian Airlines AG to be in line with EU State aid rules. The measure aims at partly compensating the airline for the damages suffered due to […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved a €30 billion French subordinated loan scheme to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework. Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The €30 billion French […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved German plans to contribute €6 billion to the recapitalisation of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLH), the parent company of Lufthansa Group. The measure was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020, as […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved Finnish plans to contribute to the recapitalisation of Finnair through the subscription of new shares by the State in the rights issue launched by Finnair on 10 June 2020 in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. Executive Vice President […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, an approximately €1.6 billion (PLN 7.5 billion) Polish scheme that partially compensates large enterprises and certain small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the losses suffered due to the coronavirus outbreak and provides them with […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved a €9 billion Italian “umbrella” scheme to support the Italian economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020, as amended on 3 […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved a €500 million Greek scheme to support self-employed individuals, including self-employed managers of small companies in sectors affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission on 19 March […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved a €1 billion Greek aid scheme to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020, as amended on 3 April 2020. Executive […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found a Danish State loan facility of up to DKK 1.5 billion (approx. €200 million) in support of the Travel Guarantee Fund (“Rejsegarantifonden”) to be in line with EU State aid rules. The loan was approved under the State aid […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved a €50 million Italian aid scheme to support the production and supply of medical devices, such as ventilators, and personal protection equipment, such as masks, goggles, gowns, and safety suits. The scheme will help Italy provide the necessary medical […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has concluded that the public financing model of the Fehmarn Belt coast-to-coast infrastructure between Denmark and Germany is in line with EU State aid rules. Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy said: “The Fehmarn Belt fixed link will […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, Romania’s plans to grant a temporary loan of approximately €36.7 million (around RON 176 million) to the state-owned flag carrier TAROM. The measure will contribute to ensuring the orderly continuation of air transport services, […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found Romanian plans to support the creation of a network of recharging stations for electric vehicles to be in line with EU State aid rules. The measure will contribute to reducing CO2 and other pollutant emissions without unduly distorting competition […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved under EU State aid rules an Important Project of Common European interest (“IPCEI”) jointly notified by Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden to support research and innovation in the common European priority area of batteries. The seven […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found Germany’s plans to strengthen the capital position of state-owned Norddeutsche Landesbank – Girozentrale (NordLB) to be free of any State aid. The measures involve a direct investment of €2.8 billion as well as investments to carry out the necessary […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, Bulgarian plans to support the construction and operation of a high-efficient cogeneration plant to produce heat and electricity using fuel derived from unrecyclable municipal waste to be in line with EU State aid rules. […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found Greek plans aimed at supporting the reduction of non-performing loans of Greek banks to be free of any State aid. The Commission found that, under the asset protection scheme (known by the name of “Hercules”), the Greek State will […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found support to six large offshore wind farms in French territorial waters to be in line with EU State aid rules. The measures will help France reduce CO2 emissions, in line with EU energy and climate goals, without unduly distorting […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether Spain’s plan to grant €20.7 million of public support to PSA for investing in its existing car plant in Vigo (Spain) is in line with EU rules on regional State aid. Commissioner Margrethe […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission is inviting Member States and other stakeholders to comment on its proposal to exempt from prior Commission scrutiny under EU State aid rules aid granted through national funds for projects supported under certain EU centrally managed programmes. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge […]
The European Commission (EC) decided two days ago to conduct an investigation which will focus on the tax affairs of Apple, Starbucks and Fiat Finance and Trade in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively. Basically, EC’s purpose is to examine if the tax authorities of the aforementioned countries are in line with the rules of […]
As they say better late than never. The EU Commission decided to relax the rules regulating the granting of state aid to SMEs and midcaps. This initiative relates to easing the terms of high risk equity financing of companies with perceived high-growth potential during their early growth stages. In normal financial circumstances high risk capital […]
According to a Commission‘s new ‘on-line state aid to banks benchmarking tool’ published on 20 December, between October 2008 and December 2012 the EU member states provided €591.9 billion (4.6 % of EU 2012 GDP) of capital support (recapitalisation and asset relief measures) to the financial sector (banks). It was not only that. The same […]
Rules for state aid covering research, development and innovation investments (R&D&I) are already relaxed in the European Union, in order to facilitate growth and job creation. Mind you that in this case the bending of competition rules is not confined to very small businesses, the SMEs and mid cups, but covers the entire constellation of […]
Within 24 hours, after the European Sting published on Thursday an article entitled, “Fair completion rules and the law of gravity don’t apply to banks”, and the responsible EU Commissioner Joaquín Almunia, Vice-President of the EC blessed as legitimate the rescue of the Dutch bank and insurance company SNS REAAL by the country’s exchequer with […]
There is no end to EU Commission’s approvals of state aid and government bailouts of hundreds of EU struggling banks, as if the extensive fair competition legislation of the Union is valid for every other sector of the economy at the exception of banks. In the latest incident, the EU competition authorities actually looked the […]
The institutionalisation of the Single Resolution Mechanism to deal with failing banks, a new tool to complement ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), two cornerstones in building the European Banking Union, cannot be accomplished correctly, if member states were allowed directly or indirectly to support with public money their failing or about to fail banks, in […]
The powerful EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, announced yesterday its proposal for a new legislation targeted at strengthening the protection of home businesses and products from external competition. It’s a clear effort to help the Union’s economy overcome a deepening recession. The new legislations will be in force early in 2014, after being approved […]
Yesterday the European Commission approved “temporarily” the recapitalisation of a Portuguese bank Banif with €1.1 billion. The Commission will take a final decision on the compatibility of the capital injection with EU state aid rules after the assessment of the restructuring measures will be proposed by Portugal. Presumably those restructuring measures will be layoffs […]
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