Brussels, 20/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission decided to open an inquiry on the subject of State aid of EUR 56 million that the Dutch government is planning to grant for the period 2001-2005 to pig slaughterhouses that are willing to reduce their slaughter capacity. The Commission has doubts about the compatibility of this public aid regime with the Community legislation on State aid as it would seem, it says, that this aid is "closely linked to a cartel".
The...