Commission temporarily approves recapitalisation and asset relief by Belgium for KBC Group

The European Commission has temporarily approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, a package of measures that the Belgian authorities intend to grant to KBC Group N.V. First, the Commission authorised a recapitalisation amounting to €3.5 billion, which is in line with its Guidance Communications on state aid during the current financial crisis (see IP/08/1495 and IP/08/1901 ).