25/04/2016 Press Release
The European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice for failure to comply with two Commission decisions, from 2014 and 2012, ordering the recovery of incompatible state aid from LARCO S.A. and United Textiles.
Member States have to recover incompatible State aid within the deadline set in Commission decisions, which is usually four months. This is essential because delays in the recovery of unlawful subsidies perpetuate the distortion of competition created by the aid. LARCO is a Greek state-owned mining company that has been in financial difficulties for several years.
Between 2008 and 2011, it was granted a number of State guarantees and the State participated in the company's capital increase in 2009. In March 2014, the Commission found that, in the absence of a restructuring plan capable of ensuring the company's return to viability, these measures distorted competition in the Single Market without furthering any common interest goal and were in breach of EU state aid rules.
The decision required Greece to recover the undue advantage of around €136 million from LARCO, which more than two years after the decision has not been implemented. United Textiles, one of Greece's largest textile producers, has been in financial difficulties for several years. Between 2007 and 2009, the Greek authorities granted a State guarantee and rescheduled overdue social insurance obligations.
In February 2012, the Commission found that these measures had procured United Textiles an undue economic advantage without restoring its long term viability, in breach of EU state aid rules. Greece was ordered to recover around €37 million from the company. In July 2012, United Textiles entered into a liquidation procedure. In December 2015, Greece decided to freeze this procedure with a view to reactivating the company's activities, without having recovered the incompatible aid.
(For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 229 80100; Yizhou Ren – Tel.: +32 229 94889)
page source http://europa.eu/
