Press Release: State aid: Commission opens in-depth inquiry into proposed subsidy for Bavarian ethylene pipeline

The European Commission on 21 March 2005 launched an in-depth investigation to establish whether the €70 million grant the Land of Bavaria intended to give for the construction of an ethylene pipeline was compatible with the EU Treaty rules on state aid (Article 87). The Commission considered that there was a risk that the grant may distort competition, even if the pipeline may be of strategic importance for the chemical industry in the region. Interested parties were invited to submit their comments within one month of publication in the EU's Official Journal of the decision.