EU Probes Romania's Plan To Grant 57 Mln Euro in State Aid to Ford for Training Project

"The Commission has doubts whether the aid would give rise to additional training over and above what Ford would be likely to carry out in the absence of the aid", the EU executive said in a statement.

The investigation concerns a comprehensive staff training programme at Ford Craiova for the 2008-2012 period. The Romanian authorities intend to subsidise this training programme with 57 million euro and have notified their plans to the Commission.

“The Commission supports training that improves the skills of the workforce. However, we must make sure that public funds really lead to additional training and do not just pay for the normal operating costs of big companies," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in the statement.

The opening of a formal investigation gives interested parties an opportunity to comment on the measures and does not prejudge the outcome of the procedure, the European Commission added.

In March Romania wrapped up the sale of Automobile Craiova to Ford for 57 million euro after the buyer agreed to an European Commission requirement to pay back 27 million euro in state aid it had been granted by the government in Bucharest. In April the Commission approved 143 million euro in aid, which Romania intended to grant to Ford to upgrade the production facilities at the car plant.

Romania and Ford signed the deal for the sale of 72.4% Automobile Craiova, which is the sole owner of car maker and distributor Daewoo Automobile Romania, in September 2007. Ford also pledged to invest 675 million euro in the Romanian company. Ford intends to extend and fundamentally overhaul the existing installations to create modern production facilities for vehicles and engines.

($ = 0.7057 euro)