Brussels, 15/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission endorsed the State aid amounting to EUR 829 million granted between 1997 and 2002 by French authorities to public rendering services. The operation allowed at the time for French rendering companies to remove and destroy, free of charge, fallen stock and slaughterhouse waste not allowed for human consumption.
The Commission considers that such financing meets Community competition rules, especially the guidelines concerning State aid relating to the screening of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) in fallen stock and slaughterhouse waste. Nonetheless, approval of aid is subject to the requirement that France carries out full reimbursement of all that part of the levy on meat purchases imported between 1997 and 2000. The Commission explains that aid in favour of certain meat trades, consisting in tax exemption on meat purchases, "infringes the rules and will have to be reimbursed".