On 11 May 2012, the Commission announced that it has approved a 2009 restructuring plan for ING, following a General Court judgment which had partially annulled the Commission’s previous clearance decision. Therefore, the Commission has essentially confirmed its earlier decision and has decided to appeal the General Court judgment. It has also opened an in-depth State aid investigation into the subsequent amendments to the restructuring plan made by the Dutch State and ING. The Commission believes that the complexity of the issues justifies an in-depth analysis.
On 17 May 2011, the GC annulled a Commission decision requiring recovery of state aid from Polish steel producer Technologie Buczek (TB). The case concerned the actions taken by the Polish authorities in implementing a plan to restructure the steel industry. The GC found that the Commission had been correct to find that TB had benefited from a decision by the Polish authorities not to apply for bankruptcy but to allow the company to continue to operate without repaying its debts.