Press Release: State aid: Commission partially endorses training aid to Ford Genk

The European Commission has closed an in-depth investigation finding that €6.24 million aid the Flemish Region intends to grant to support training at Ford-Werke in Genk, Belgium (“Ford Genk”) is compatible with EC Treaty state aid rules. However, the Commission also found that aid worth a further €6.04 million would finance training activities which Ford would have carried out anyway, even without aid. Such aid would not further the common interest by increasing training activities, but would simply distort competition and trade between Member States. Therefore, the Commission decided that the further €6.04 million aid is not compatible with the Single Market.