Press Release: State aid: Commission requests Spain to respect the judgment of the European Court of Justice on recovery of incompatible state aid

The European Commission requested Spain to implement a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision ordering the recovery of illegal and incompatible state aid in the form of fiscal measures in the Basque region. Although the ECJ judgement was given already in 2006, the Spanish authorities had still not informed the Commission that the aid has been entirely repaid. The Commission's request took the form of '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.