Source: European Parliament
1. In 2014, the Commission approved aid to Apollo Tyres on the basis of state aid rules applicable at the time. In 2020, the Commission approved state aid schemes related to COVID-19 measures, based on which Hungary granted aid to Apollo Tyres to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy and to partially compensate the company for losses suffered because of the lockdown measures introduced by the Hungarian government. The Commission does not have any indication that either the 2014 aid measure or the 2020 schemes were not implemented in line with those decisions.
2. Current state aid rules, where relevant, already include strict anti-relocation safeguards. The Commission does not consider that there is a need to review those provisions. They ensure that state aid cannot be used in a way that would encourage or facilitate the relocation of services or production to another Member State.
3. The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) can be used to support affected workers by funding reintegration pathways, training, and guidance. The ESF+ already supports Twente as one of the 35 Dutch Labour Market Regions. The Netherlands can also apply for one-off re-active assistance from EGF when redundancies cannot be avoided to finance labour market policy measures. More generally, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) contributes to enhancing competitiveness of the East Netherlands regional economy through smart and green innovation, including for energy transition and circularity, transition to clean industries, skills for the green transition and access to employment in clean and resource-efficient technologies.