Brussels, 19/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 19 September 2012, the European Commission instructed Slovenia to recover some €10 million (plus interest) in state aid it granted to leisure equipment manufacturer Elan in 2008. The Commission's investigation, which was launched in May 2010 (see EUROPE 10139) showed that the aid was not compliant with EU state aid rules because a private operator acting in line with the market would never have agreed to make a similar investment and therefore Elan was granted an unfair advantage over its competitors. This means that the aid in question is not justified, unlike a previous €10 million capital injection in 2007 examined as part of the same investigation. In 2007, Elan's public shareholders acted in the same way as any normal private investor would have done in a similar situation. (FG/transl.fl)