Press Release: State aid: Commission authorises temporary Polish scheme allowing limited amounts of aid to boost real economy

The European Commission authorised under EC Treaty rules on state aid a Polish scheme aimed at providing relief to companies encountering financing difficulties as a result of the credit squeeze in the current economic crisis. To this end the scheme allows aid in the form of direct grants and debt conversions concluded by 31 December 2010. The scheme meets the conditions of the Commission’s Temporary framework for state aid measures to support access to finance in the current financial and economic crisis, as amended on 25 February 2009. In particular, the scheme is appropriate to remedy a serious disturbance in the entire Polish economy, is limited in time, respects the relevant thresholds and applies only to companies that were not in difficulty on 1 July 2008. It is therefore compatible with Article 87(3)(b) of the EC Treaty.