EC calls on Greece to recover state subsidies from Cosco

The European Union has apparently ordered the Greek government to recover state subsidies which were received by Cosco’s subsidiary in Piraeus, since they consider them to be non-compliant with European legislation. The announcement of the decision came a few hours prior to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday and ahead of Vice Premier Yannis Dragasakis’ trip to Beijing, China.

The Commission claims that the tax exemptions and preferential treatment that Cosco’s subsidiarity received conflict with EU competition law. As such, the EC has demanded that a number of main terms and clauses in the contract between the two sides be removed.

The Commission believes that Cosco was exempt from various taxes and received preferential treatment, especially in foreign investments.

(More details should soon be available in the next edition of the Official Journal of the European Union.)

EC spokesperson Ricardo Cardoso told the To Vima newspaper that while the European Commission is planning to delineate the method for recovering the State subsidies, it is up to Greek authorities to establish how much these subsidies amount to, as they alone have the relevant information.

Editor's Note: Call us foolish, but HellasFrappe feels that this is just Brussels' way of hitting China via Greece. The port of Piraeus was not only revamped under the Cosco management, but this investment generated tens of hundreds of jobs for many people in the area. It also made the Greek port one of the busiest and most prominent in all of Europe. The Commission -which we all know tilts towards the Left- should stop protecting the State, and begin supporting the private sector in Greece.