PORTUGAL AUTO INDUSTRY TRAINING SUBSIDY EUROPEAN COMMISSION STATE AID INQUIRY

BY KEITH NUTHALL VOLKSWAGEN has persuaded the Portugal government to subsidise a training programme for workers at its Portuguese subsidiary Auto Europa: unfortunately, the European Commission thinks the payments may be illegal and could block them. An inquiry launched by the executive of the European Union (EU) will check whether this planned Euro 3.5 million grant follows the EU's rules on 'state aid'. In the US this is better known as pork barrelling, but it amounts to the same: a government funnelling money into a favoured company. In the EU, however, the 25 ...


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