Brussels, 26/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 June 2008, the European Commission confirmed that it had called on Spain to recover state aid judged illegal by the European Court of Justice in a 2006 ruling. Since the ruling, Madrid has “still not provided clear evidence” that it has recovered the aid, says a Commission press release. On 14 December 2006, (in joint cases C-485/03 and C-490/03), the Court ruled that Spain had failed to fulfil the recovery obligations imposed by six Commission decisions adopted on 11 July 2001. These decisions related to fiscal measures in the Basque region, namely a tax credit amounting to 45% of investments (“crédito fiscal”) and a tax exemption for newly established firms (“minivacaciones fiscales”). The Commission's request takes the form of a reasoned opinion: if there is no justification from the Spanish authorities, the next step will be referral to the Court of Justice for the second time. A spokeswoman for the Spanish Representation in Brussels said that Madrid and the Basque authorities were “working together” to provide “the information required by the Commission” within the timescale set. She was unable to say, however, whether Spain had recovered the aid or whether it intended to do so. (C.D./transl.rt)