Brussels, 05/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - On 30 December 2008, the European Commission approved two German measures aimed at alleviating the effect of the financial crisis. A state aid programme amounting to €15 billion will be set in place to facilitate financial flows of undertakings affected by the credit crunch. This programme will be “administrated” by the German public development bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, under the name “KfW-Sonderprogramm 2009”. The second measure will be a framework allowing federal, regional and local policymakers to grant aid ceilinged at €500,000 to undertakings in difficulty. These are the first projects targeting the “real” economy (i.e. outside the financial sector) to receive clearance from Brussels, within the temporary state aid framework presented on 17 December 2008 (EUROPE 98006). (C.D./transl.jl)