Press Release: State aid: Commission approves modifications to German financial rescue scheme

The European Commission approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, modifications to the German rescue package for financial institutions, initially approved by the Commission on 27 October 2008. The amendments concern mainly the remuneration of recapitalisation measures, in line with the Commission's Communication on recapitalisation. Although basic remuneration rates may, in certain cases, be below the rates foreseen in the initial package, the price for the state participation increases in proportion to its duration, so as to incite beneficiaries to pay back the state support as soon as market conditions permit it. This will ensure the proportionality of the amended measures and contribute to the adequacy of the whole scheme to remedy a serious disturbance in the German economy. The Commission therefore concluded that the German rescue package, as amended, was compatible with Article 87.3.b of the EC Treaty.