Press Release: State aid: Commission authorises Maltese temporary aid scheme to grant compatible aid of up to €500 000

The European Commission authorised, under EC Treaty state aid rules, a Maltese measure to help businesses to deal with the current economic crisis. Aid of up to €500 000 per firm may be granted in 2009 and 2010 to businesses facing funding problems because of the current credit squeeze. The scheme meets the conditions of the Commission’s Temporary framework for state aid measures, which gives Member States additional scope to facilitate access to financing in the present economic and financial crisis. It is therefore compatible with Article 87(3)(b) of the EC Treaty, which permits aid ‘to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State’.