Brussels, 11/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - On account of failure to comply with a 2002 judgment of the European Court of Justice, Spain was ordered on 11 December 2012 in Case 610-10 to pay a lump sum of €20 million and a daily penalty payment of €50 000 from 11 December until the judgment is complied with. The ruling required the recovery by the Spanish state of illegal aid paid since 1989 to the Basque company Indosa and its ubsidarity CMD (see EUROPE 10226 and 9924).
Following Indosa's bankruptcy in 1994, the European Commission said the aid that the small steel and electrical appliances manufacturer had received in various forms since 1989 (see EUROPE 10224) had not been recovered despite a Court of Justice ruling to this effect in 2002 in Case C-499/99; - the company's business continued firstly by its wholly-owned subsidary CMD and later by the company Euskomenaje, set up in 2008 by CMD staff after CMD itself went bankrupt. The Commission asked the Court of Justice to examine Spain's failure to comply with the ruling of 2002.
In a second ruling, the Court of Justice said that other businesses continuing a bankrupt company's business without the aid ever being fully recovered could lead to long-lasting distorsions of competition caused by the aid and the fact that the first attempts to sort out the situation were not taken by the Basque Region until after the deadline set by the European Commission (May 2010). Accordingly, the Court ordered Spain to pay a penalty of €50 000 for each day of delay in adopting the measures necessary to comply with the 2002 judgment and a lump sum of €20 million to prevent a repetition of such behaviour in the future. (FG/transl.fl)