Press Release: State aid: Commission orders recovery of aid granted to Sovello AG (formerly EverQ GmbH)

The European Commission decided on 29 January 2010 under EU state aid rules that Sovello AG (formerly EverQ GmbH), a German manufacturer of solar panels, was not entitled to receive public support in the form of a bonus for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), (previously authorised by the Commission in June 2006), because the company did not meet the relevant criteria of the applicable EU framework for aid to SMEs (Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC). The Commission opened a new investigation in 2008 on the basis of additional information suggesting that the earlier decision to qualify Sovello AG as an SME had been based on incorrect information (see IP/08/951 ). The Commission has now concluded that Sovello kept the participation of one of its joint venture partners artificially below 25%, while its influence in Sovello was considerably greater than such a shareholding would suggest, and so in practice did not meet the SME thresholds of EU state aid rules. The aid received in the form of an SME bonus is therefore incompatible with EU state aid rules. The Commission has therefore revoked its 2006 decision and ordered Germany to recover the SME bonus from Sovello