Press Release: State aid: Commission requests Spain to comply with Court judgment on recovery of incompatible aid under company tax schemes

The European Commission has formally requested Spain to implement a European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment (case C-177/06) declaring that Spain had failed to recover illegal and incompatible state aid granted by certain Basque Provinces, as it was ordered by Commission decisions of December 2001. Although the ECJ judgment dates back to 2007, the Commission concluded that Spain has still not completed the recovery of the aid granted by the Provinces of Guipúzcoa and Álava. The Commission's request took the form of a reasoned opinion, the second step of infringement proceedings for failure to respect a Court judgement (Article 228 of the EC Treaty). If Spain continues to fail to comply with the ECJ decision, the Commission may refer it to the Court for a second time and request the ECJ to impose fines until the aid has been fully recovered. The fines can take the form of periodic penalty payments, lump sums or both.