Press Release: State aid: Bank Burgenland – Commission refers Austria to Court for failure to recover illegal state aid

The European Commission decided to refer Austria to the European Court of Justice under EC Treaty state aid rules for failure to comply with a Commission decision of 30 April, 2008. The Commission had requested Austria to recover an estimated €41.5 million of illegal aid (plus interest) from the Austrian insurance group Grazer Wechselseitige (GRAWE), in the context of the privatisation of Bank Burgenland. To date, Austria had not recovered the aid from GRAWE.