The European Commission did not affirm that Romanian mines could continue to receive state aid on a continuous basis after accession, says the institution's spokesperson Angela Filote yesterday in a press release.
At a meeting in March between European Commission officials from Competition Department and representatives of the Romanian Ministry of Economy and Trade, there was a discussion of the general conditions in which state aid for mines might be possible, Filote explained.

The only possibility for such aid would be for it to be approved as part of a restructuring plan drawn up for those mines, and only those, considered viable. Any such plan, together with the intended aid package, would then have to be submitted for authorization to the Romanian Competition Council, exclusively competent to judge the compatibility of such aid before Romania's accession to the EU. The respective restructuring programs would have to be in place before January 1, 2007, since it would not be possible to continue to grant operating aid after that date outside a previously approved restructuring package.

At this stage, the EC officials took no position on the possible compatibility of such restructuring plans and the resulting aid with EU rules, underlining that the matter falls under the responsibility of the Romanian Competition Council. After EU accession, it would be for the European Commission to assess all new state aid measures taken in the new member state. In practical terms, the granting of state aid would still be possible after accession, providing that the measure be in line with the relevant EU rules and regulations.

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