Brussels, 07/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - The latest state aid scoreboard published by the European Commission on Monday 7 December, shows that the financial downturn led to a large increase in public subsidies. The overall level of state aid almost quintupled in 2008 compared with 2007, “almost exclusively” as a result of crisis aid to the financial sector, the report says.
Total state aid granted by member states amounted to €279.6 billion in 2008, or, in relative terms, 2.2% of EU27...