State aid: Commission concludes that measures in favour of Portuguese railway maintenance company EMEF involve no State aid

The European Commission has found that certain measures in favour of Portuguese railway maintenance company Empresa de Manutenção de Equipamento Ferroviário (EMEF) do not involve State aid within the meaning of EU rules. In 2015, the Commission received a complaint alleging that EMEF had benefited from illegal State aid in the form of capital increases, loans and guarantees through its parent company CP, the state-owned Portuguese passenger rail operator. Following the complaint, in June 2016, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation into certain measures granted by CP in favour of EMEF. The Commission’s investigation did not provide indications of any specific involvement of the Portuguese authorities in the decisions by CP to grant the measures to EMEF. On this basis, the Commission concluded that the measures are not imputable to the Portuguese state and that, therefore, they do not constitute State aid under EU rules. More information will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register, under the case number SA.41727 once any confidentiality issues have been resolved.