Press Release: State aid: Commission endorses loan to Spanish lollipop producer Chupa Chups, but vetoes subsidies

The European Commission has closed an in-depth investigation under EC Treaty state aid rules (Article 87) concluding that a number of measures in favour of the Spanish producer of candies Chupa Chups S.A., and in particular a €35 million loan granted by a financial entity belonging to the Catalonian Region in 2003, did not constitute state aid because it was granted on conditions that a market economy investor would have accepted. However, the Commission found that €900 000 of subsidies for the companydid constitute illegal state aid, €100 000 of which will have to be paid back.