Brussels, 20/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - The state guarantee on a €450 million loan granted in 2008 to Banco Privado Português (BPP) constitutes illegal state aid and is incompatible with the internal market. On Tuesday 20 July, the European Commission therefore ordered Portugal to recover the aid. It has four months to inform the Commission of the steps it has taken to also try to recover the difference between the guarantee fee paid by BPP and what it should have paid.
Joaquín Almunia,...