Press Release: State aid: Commission approves amendment to Lithuanian crisis measure allowing small amounts of aid

The European Commission approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, an amendment to a Lithuanian scheme allowing aid to be granted of up to €500,000 per company, initially approved on 8 June 2009. The amendment will extend the scope of application of the scheme, in particular to support small non-agricultural businesses in rural areas until the end of 2010. The amendment is in line with the Commission's Temporary Framework for state aid measures to support access to finance in the current financial and economic crisis, because it is limited in time and only applies to companies that were not in difficulties on 1 July 2008. 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.