Press Release: State aid: Commission requires Italy to recover around €80 million operating aid granted to ThyssenKrupp, Cementir and Terni Nuova Industrie Chimiche

The European Commission has decided under EC Treaty state aid rules that operating aid worth around €80 million granted by Italy in the form of a preferential electricity tariff since 2005 is incompatible with the Single Market and needs to be recovered from the beneficiaries. The preferential electricity tariff is granted to the manufacturing plants of ThyssenKrupp (steel), Cementir (cement) and Terni Nuova Industrie Chimiche (chemicals) located in the Umbria Region. It was originally set up in 1962 to compensate the expropriation of a hydroelectric power plant. Based on its in-depth investigation launched in July 2006 (see IP/06/1038), the Commission has concluded that the prolongation of the electricity tariff until 2010 constitutes operating aid because it can no longer be considered compensatory in nature and its only effect is to improve the beneficiaries' competitive position. Such aid distorts competition and trade between Member States and is consequently prohibited by the EC Treaty.

European Commission: MEMO/473: Competition: Commission action against cartels – Questions and answers http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/473&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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