Brussels, 28/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has formally requested Spain to provide information concerning measures taken to implement a 14 December 2006 Court of Justice ruling condemning Spain to recover illegal and incompatible fiscal aid granted to Basque companies in the 1990s. This aid consisted of a tax credit amounting to 45% of investments (“crédito fiscal”) and a tax exemption for newly established firms (“minivacaciones fiscales”). Since the Court judgment, Spain has not notified the Commission of any measures adopted to ensure effective recovery. The Commission has, therefore, decided to send a letter of formal notice to Spain, the first step of EC Treaty infringement procedures for failure to comply with Court judgements, to seek information from Spain on any measures taken. On the basis of the Spanish reply, the Commission will assess whether Spain has fulfilled its recovery obligation. If this is found not to be the case, the Commission may send a “reasoned opinion” formally requesting Spain to implement the recovery measures, and if that fails, refer Spain to Court a second time (Article 228 proceedings for failure to comply with a Court judgment) and ask the Court to impose fines (periodic penalties, lump sums or both) on Spain until the aid is fully recovered. (ol)