Polish state aid for Dell computers to be investigated
The EU commission has today announced an investigation into €52.7 million of state aid from the Polish government to US computer company Dell. The investigation is being closely followed by the Irish government where 1900 job losses were recently announced after the company decided to relocate to Poland. But what can the EU commission really do?
It is highly unlikely that Dell will change its mind regarding the relocation to Poland but the company could see the €52.7 million state aid at risk. This opens a potentially hazardous can of worms regarding the use of state funding to attract new businesses and new operations to a particular country. However, as Ireland has recently used significant EU funding to attract businesses to its shores there is very little criticism which it can aim at the Polish government.
The EU rules and regulations on state aid are fairly clear although over the last few years we have seen a number of companies "sailing close to the wind" and despite severe reprimands for some governments around the world very little has changed. As taxpayers in any country would expect, the government of the day will use whatever means possible to attract more businesses and employment opportunities to their shores.
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