Staatssteun: Europese Commissie staat gedeeltelijke steun toe aan het Vlaamse Ford Genk (en)

The European Commission has closed an in-depth investigation finding that €6.24 million aid the Flemish Region intends to grant to support training at Ford-Werke in Genk, Belgium ("Ford Genk") is compatible with EC Treaty state aid rules. However, the Commission also found that aid worth a further €6.04 million would finance training activities which Ford would have carried out anyway, even without aid. Such aid would not further the common interest by increasing training activities, but would simply distort competition and trade between Member States. Therefore, the Commission decided that the further €6.04 million aid is not compatible with the Single Market.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes i said: "The Commission strongly supports training to stimulate economic growth and job creation, and is therefore pleased to endorse over €6 million of training aid to Ford Genk. However the rest of the aid covers normal operating and restructuring expenses of Ford Genk, and will not lead to additional training activities, and so cannot be allowed."

Belgium notified the intention of the Flemish Region to grant a €12.28 million subsidy for a training programme costing €33.84 million to Ford Genk, a Belgian subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company.

The Genk plant was opened in 1964. At the end of 2003, it underwent - in the context of a general restructuring of Ford Europe - a significant reduction of staff, involving about 3,000 employees. At the same time, the company announced an investment programme worth about €700 million, primarily devoted to a new flexible manufacturing system capable of producing three new models. The plant currently employs more than 5,000 people, and has a yearly production of around 200,000 vehicles.

The Commission supports training activities, because it benefits the European economy by broadening the pool of skilled workers. However, it has to verify individual cases of training aid to ensure that such aid actually motivates companies to carry out additional training activities, and is not simply used to subsidise the costs of training that the company would anyhow incur. This verification is in particular necessary in an economic environment where car plants competing with each other for the construction of new models, and unnecessary aid might therefore give rise to considerable distortions of competition.

The Commission's decision found that parts of the notified measure for Ford Genk are not compatible with the EU rules on training aid and with the Single Market. In particular, the Commission considers that training activities which took place in the framework of the restructuring of the plant constitute normal restructuring expenses. Furthermore, training related to the launch of new models is part of the operating expenses that are incurred by car manufacturers on the basis of the market forces alone. The Commission therefore concluded that this part of the aid would not lead to increased training activities and was not necessary. Consequently, €6.04 million of the proposed aid cannot be authorised. The Belgian authorities have confirmed that the aid has not been granted yet, and therefore there is no need for recovery.

The rest of the measures notified by the Belgian authorities, namely €6.24 million of aid are compatible with the Single Market, the Commission has decided.