Brussels, 07/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has authorised most of the aid granted by the Dutch authorities to the company Koninklijke Schelde Groep (KSG) for restructuring in the context of its sale to the Damen Schipyards group. Employing 1108 with a turnover of EUR 61.7 million in 2000, KSG's main activity was the operation of a mixed military and civilian shipyard, held entirely by the State. In February 2000, Damen, a company specialised in the construction of ships and naval repairs, came to an agreement with the Dutch State for the purchase of KSG. It prepared a restructuring plan for the company. In this context, the Dutch authorities had foreseen support measures totalling EUR 55.1 million consisting of capital injections of EUR 47.7 million and interest rate subsidies of EUR 7.4 million. The Commission examined whether such measures would correspond to the criteria foreseen by the Community guidelines on State aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty and, partially, by the Council regulation on aid to shipbuilding. It concluded that the restructuring plan was a guarantee of viability as the deficit activities were abandoned and the remaining activities were refocused on more prosperous market segments. On the other hand, the Commission did not authorise the part of aid in favour of civilian shipbuilding which comes under the scope of the regulation on shipbuilding, as it considered that the condition imposing reduced capacities compared to the level of aid in order to avoid all competition distortion had not been met. The Dutch authorities are invited to recover the corresponding amounts (EUR 4 million) from the beneficiary.