BAA warning on recovery of state aid

摘要

The British Aggregates Association (BAA) has warned quarry operators who have a full or partial exemption to the Aggregates Levy that HM Treasury may be giving them misleading and potentially disastrous information. Most of the exemptions, based on the geology of the rock being quarried, are to be withdrawn on 1 April 2014 because of a ruling by the EU General Court. However, under EU competition law, all state aid, if subsequently found to be illegal, must be repaid in full, plus interest, from the time it started. The Aggregates Levy was introduced in 2002 and the EU is currently holding a 'Phase II' investigation into the legality of certain exemptions, including aggregates from slate, shale and china clay. The BAA says that having to repay 12 years of unpaid Levy would almost certainly put a great number of operating companies into liquidation.