The EU Commission said on Wednesday that state aid given to developers at German racetrack Nürburgring "was in breach of European Union rules and must be paid back," according to Robert-Jan Bartunek of REUTERS.
Developers at the track were given €456M between '02 and '12 "to develop the site, mainly by the state of Rhineland Palatinate." Motor sport industry supplier Capricorn Group "bought the track" for more than €100M ($126M) in March of '14. The Commission, which acts as the 28-member bloc's competition watchdog, said that "as the sale was transparent, the new owners were not liable for paying back the aid" (REUTERS, 10/1). The DPA reported EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that financial assistance was only allowed if they serve to "restructure a company and help it to become viable again, not keep them afloat artificially." In the case of the racetrack "the aid clearly violated the [EU] rules." The EU "also criticized that the regional government never presented a viable restructuring plan in Brussels." The Nürburgring itself as well as all the companies who benefited form the aid "have since gone into administration" (DPA, 10/1).