Brussels, 29/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - Germany has formally agreed to abolish State aid to public banks, in compliance with the agreement recently reached with the Commission (see EUROPE of 2 March, p.11). Commissioner Monti commented on this announcement as follows: "Germany's acceptance represents a milestone in our efforts to ensure a level playing field in the financial services sector. This development will also be beneficial to the competitiveness of the German and European economy, which requires the allocation of financial resources to be efficient, while certain types of government interventions tend to distort it". The Commissioner, moreover, stressed the importance of this issue under four aspects: Firstly, "it shows that the Commission acts against all those forms of State aid, which are incompatible with the EU rules, be they in open or hidden ones such as guarantees". Secondly: "we must remain vigilant about State support to the banking sector". Thirdly, "the Commission fulfils its role of guardian of the treaties with equal determination towards all Member States, large and small". And, finally, "it is perfectly possible to achieve compliance with (…) rules without putting into question the public nature of the undertaking". The Commissioner praised the co-operation of the public banks, which themselves proposed major outlines for a solution that served as basis for discussions. He then recalls that a procedure has recently been engaged in against Austria (see EUROPE of 6 April, p.12), whereas other Member States are currently being scrutinised by its services.