On 13 November 2009, the Commission approved a restructuring plan for ING Groep NV under the EC State aid rules. ING is a Dutch financial institution, offering its services in over 40 countries. In October 2008, the Commission approved the liquidity guarantees of €12 billion offered by the Dutch government to support ING during the economic crisis.
In parallel with the decision to allow the UK government to intervene in the liquidation of Bradford & Bingley, the European Commission has approved measures taken to facilitate the restructuring of Dunfermline Building Society. After the business encountered major financial difficulties, the UK Government intervened to facilitate an approved restructuring plan under which the building society’s impaired assets were split from its profitable business and put into administration.
Last Friday, financial services group Dexia SA announced that it had reached an agreement with the European Commission relating to its restructuring plan. Dexia had previously received approximately €6.4 billion in bailout money from Belgium, France and Luxembourg. Pursuant to the negotiated restructuring plan, Dexia will:
The European Commission has proposed measures to protect independent travellers from financial loss if their airline collapses. Current rules provide tourists who book package holidays with protection covering brochure information, rights to cancel without penalty and airline or tour operator insolvency. However, 23% of travellers in the EU now book independently.
In November 2008, the European Commission (EC) found state aid granted by the Polish government to two Polish state-controlled shipyards (Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa and Stocznia Gdynia), illegal under EU single market rules and requested its return to the government with accrued interest. The EC decided however to postpone the enforcement of the return of state aid for seven months until 6 June 2009 to allow for the prior public sale of the shipyards’ assets at market price.
The European Commission (EC) yesterday approved the restructuring plan of Northern Rock plc. The plan will split the company into two separate companies. The new Northern Rock plc will consist of a new savings and mortgage bank that will hold and service all customer savings accounts and some existing mortgage accounts.
HM Treasury has issued a press release stating that the Government welcomes the European Commission's approval of the restructuring of the Royal Bank of Scotland and State Aid approval for the Asset Protection Scheme.
View Government welcomes approval of RBS restructuring, 14 December 2009
The Polish metal tools manufacturer, Bison Bial (Bison), will be able to receive state aid amounting to €8.2m in order to enable the company to carry out a restructuring programme to improve the firm’s economic viability. After Bison entered into financial difficulties, Poland notified the European Commission that it wanted to provide aid to the company. The Commission decided that such aid was compatible with EU state aid rules, provided that the investment programme is fully implemented and the company sells one of its production divisions by the end of 2009.
The Commission has opened a formal investigation under EC Treaty state aid rules into a series of aids amounting to €40.7 million that Italy intends to grant to Legler S.p.A, a denim textile producer. The Commission doubts at this stage that the restructuring plan of Legler S.p.A. would restore the beneficiary's commercial viability and is concerned that the aid would create undue distortions of competition in this highly competitive market. The opening of the formal investigation gives interested parties an opportunity to comment on the proposed measures.
On 14 March 2008 the Court of First Instance (CFI) issued two orders rejecting applications for interim measures by two subsidiaries of a Polish steel producer (Buczek) to suspend the application of a Commission recovery decision pending the final judgment in the case. Between 1997 and 2003 Poland was granted a derogation from the general prohibition on restructuring aid to the steel sector. The derogation was conditional upon Poland implementing a restructuring plan. Aid was provided to Buczek, who failed to properly implement its restructuring plan and went bankrupt in 2006.