Conferences and Speeches
Mergers
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Commission clears reacquisition of Acciai Speciali Terni and VDM by ThyssenKrupp, concluding remedy implementation from Outokumpu/Inoxum merger
12 February 2014
The Commission concluded that the proposed reacquisition of Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) and Outokumpu VDM (VDM) by ThyssenKrupp AG (TK) was in line with the EU merger regulation.
The reacquisition does not raise any competition concerns, since the merged entity will continue to face a number of credible competitors.
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State aid
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Commission orders Poland to recover incompatible state aid from Gdynia airport
11 February 2014
The Commission found that the public funding granted by the municipalities of Gdynia and Kosakowo to Gdynia airport gives the beneficiary an undue economic advantage over its competitors, in particular the Gdansk airport, in breach of EU state aid rules.
These rules do not allow Member States to grant state aid in order to duplicate airport infrastructure where there is not enough demand, since this would distort competition between airports and waste taxpayers' money.
To re-establish the situation that existed on the market prior to the granting of the aid, Gdynia airport has to pay back this undue advantage amounting to EUR 21.8 million (around PLN 91.7 million).
This will help alleviating the distortion of competition brought about by the state aid.
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Court
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Preliminary ruling C-69/13 Mediaset (related to digital decoders state aid case)
13 February 2014
The EU Court of Justice ruled on questions referred by an Italian court regarding the recovery of state aid from the Italian company Mediaset.
The EUCJ held that national courts were bound by a Commission decision finding that an aid scheme was incompatible with the Internal market and ordering the recovery of the aid without specifying the amount to be recovered or the beneficiaries.
National courts are not bound by the positions taken by the Commission in the execution of that decision but must take these positions into account as a factor in the assessment of the dispute before them.
Read full judgment >
Read more about the Commission's state aid decision >
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