Brussels, 16/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to launch an investigation into aid paid to German grain brandy producers, following Berlin's refusal to do what was necessary to review the Spirits Monopoly Law as regards this product ("Kornbranntwein"). According to the Commission, the scheme is aid to German producers that producers from other Member states do not benefit from and that has not been justified since 1989, when a Community regulation clearly defined grain brandy as an industrial product (to which the rules of competition apply).
On 19 June, the Commission had asked Germany to undertake to review this scheme by the end of 2003 (see EUROPE of 21 June 2002). Aid of any kind that might be granted to producers to compensate them for their possible early withdrawal from the monopoly is also caught in the procedure.