Press Release: State aid: Commission prohibits tax exemption to Slovak subsidiary of Glunz&Jensen

The European Commission has decided that a Slovak regional investment aid worth SKK 42 million (some €1.15 million) in the form of a tax exemption in favour of Glunz&Jensen is incompatible with the EU state aid rules (and in particular the Regional Aid Guidelines) and could not be granted. After a formal investigation launched in April 2007 (see IP/07/558), the Commission found that the proposed aid did not contribute to regional development and would have created significant distortions of competition in a specific market in which Glunz&Jensen has an important share (graphic arts pre-press processing equipment). As the aid has not yet been granted, the aid does not have to be recovered.