Brussels, 10/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission launched a formal investigation into the UK's plans to grant public funding worth €12.5 million (£8.5 million) for a staff training programme at the Vauxhall car plant in Ellesmere Port (near Liverpool). At this stage, the Commission has doubts as to the compatibility of the proposed aid with the Commission rules on training aid. In particular, the Commission believes some training might be indispensable to the plant's normal operations and would be carried out even without state aid. EC rules only allow state aid which provides a genuine incentive for additional training. In addition, the Commission believes that part of the training may concern skills which are specific to Vauxhall, and thus cannot be used in other firms or sectors: this would limit the amount of state aid the project may receive. (ol)