Brussels, 10/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Commission acknowledges that training is of strategic importance for industry in the Flemish region, but fears that aid of 12.28 million EUR, which the Flemish region would like to grant to the Ford-Werke GmbH factory in Genk, may distort competition. For this reason, it decided on Wednesday to open an in-depth investigation to verify whether this aid corresponds to its declared objectives and is in line with Community rules in terms of State aid to training. “The Commission resolutely supports activities as part of the Lisbon action programme (…), but there is the risk that this aid may simply be used to cover the running costs of the Genk factory", said Neelie Kroes in a press release. This factory, which was set up in 1964 and belongs to Ford Motor Company, went through a large-scale restructuring at the end of 2003, and now employs fewer than 5000 (down from 9000). Certain expenditure, particularly related to the company's basic activities, do not respond to the criteria defining costs eligible for aid, the Commission stresses, which also has its doubts about a distinction between "specific" training costs and those for "general" training. Under Community rules, the first category, which depends on the position held by the employee within the company, enjoys lower levels of State aid than the second, which allows people to acquire qualifications which are transferable to other companies or other fields of work, and thus increases the employee's job prospects.