Press Release: State aid: Commission orders Belgium to recover €211 million from several steel companies within the Duferco group

On 20 January 2016 the Commission concluded that €211 million funding granted by the Walloon authorities in Belgium to several steel companies within the Duferco group between 2006 and 2011 distorted competition in breach of EU state aid rules.

The Commission concluded that no private investor would have accepted to invest at the same terms as the Belgian Foreign Strategic Investments Holding (FSIH), a public authority controlled by the Walloon Government in Belgium. The public funding therefore provided a selective advantage to its recipients that their competitors who had to operate without such subsidised funding.

ESO: Background Information: State aid: Commission launches in-depth enquiry into Belgian funding for Duferco http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-state-aid-commission-launches-in-depth-enquiry-into-belgian-funding-for-duferco/

European Commission: DG Communication: RAPID: STATEMENT/16/118, 20.01.2016: Statement by Commissioner Vestager on EU state aid rules in the steel sector and Commission state aid decisions concerning Duferco in Belgium and Ilva in Italy http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-16-118_en.htm

EUObserver, 20.01.16: EU competition chief lashes out at steel state aid https://euobserver.com/economic/131927

Politico, 20.01.16: Commission targets public funding in steel industry http://www.politico.eu/article/commission-targets-public-funding-in-steel-industry-ilva-duferco-subsidies-illegal-state-aid/

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