Almunia hits back over state aid ruling

In March 2012, the European Court of Justice struck down part of a 2009 European Commission ruling that forced Dutch bank ING to divest large parts of its operations in exchange for receiving state aid during the financial crisis.

However, Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s Competition Commissioner robustly defended the emergency state aid regime for ailing banks, in a broadside against lawyers 'creating confusion' over the wider implications of the court victory against the European Commission.

ECJ: Press Release, No.19, 2012: Judgment in Joined Cases T-29/10 Netherlands v Commission and T-33/10 ING Groep NV v Commission http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2012-03/cp120019en.pdf

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