Brussels, 15/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 15 July, the European Commission decided to refer Italy to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failure to comply with a Commission Decision of April 2008. The Decision ordered Italy to recover €2.75 million of illegal and incompatible state aid from New Interline S.p.A., an Italian producer of chairs located in the region of Basilicata. To date, Italy has recovered no aid from the beneficiary.
Italy had granted the rescue aid without prior approval by the Commission and, after six months, it was neither ended nor followed-up by a plan for a return to viability, as required by the Commission's 2004 Guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid. The Commission therefore requested Italy to recover the aid plus interest from New Interline S.p.A. The Commission therefore requested the ECJ to confirm under Article 88.2 of the EC Treaty that Italy has failed to implement the Commission's decision of 16 April 2008. (O.L./trans/rh)