Memo: State aid: Vice-President Verheugen and Commissioners Kroes and Špidla call for co-ordinated action and full respect of EU state aid and internal market rules in GM Europe restructuring

Following recent developments concerning possible national support measures for the restructuring of GM Europe (including Opel/Vauxhall), Vice-President Verheugen and Commissioners Kroes and Špidla welcomed the efforts undertaken, but repeat the need for co-ordinated action and full respect of EC Treaty rules.

The Commissioners for Enterprise and Industry, Competition, Employment and Social Affairs stressed the importance of a coherent and coordinated political approach towards the European automotive industry, bearing in mind its primary entrepreneurial responsibility in a social market economy. The Commissioners recalled that all participating Member States in the informal meeting with EU ministers on the situation of GM on 13 March 2009 agreed to ensure that no national measures should be taken without prior information and coordination with the Commission and other involved countries. In this context, Vice-President Verheugen and Commissioners Kroes and Špidla underlined that national support measures have to fully comply with EC Treaty state aid and internal market rules.

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