Press Release: State aids: Commission opens inquiry into support measures for Polish car maker FSO

The European Commission on 19 January 2005 opened a formal probe into the compatibility with EC Treaty state aid rules of a series of public authority measures for the restructuring of Fabryka Samochodow Osobowych S.A. (FSO ex DAEWOO). According to the Commission's preliminarily assessment, some of these measures had not been granted yet. EC Treaty state aid rules require Member States not to grant aids or subsidies which distort or threaten to distort competition within the EU's Single Market. The Commission did not intend to examine several other aid measures granted by the Polish authorities before accession.