Brussels, 19/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - After a detailed investigation, the Commission ruled that aid of EUR 5.9 million paid to the German company, Hirschfelder Leinen und Textil GmbH (Hiltex), specialised in flax and textile spinning, is illegal. It considers such aid to be incompatible with the rules of the Common Market. Aid had been granted between 1990 and 1999 for restructuring and the Commission proceeded to its investigation according to the criteria governing this kind of aid. It noted that the aid did not fulfil the criteria set, mainly that requiring recovery to long-term viability of the enterprise which, according to the Commission, had been keep artificially afloat for many years. We recall that the Commission had opened an inquiry in April 2000 concerning a first aid payment to Hiltex, which called itself an SME, as it had considerable doubt about the legal status of the company. In January 2001, it extended its initial investigation as Hiltex had received further aid from public authorities amounting to a total of EUR 5.9 million. The Commission called on Germany to take all the measures needed for recovery of the aid unduly paid. Germany has two months in which to inform the Commission of measures that it plans to take.