Brussels – The investigations concerning the former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, accused of money laundering and influence peddling in connection with the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra, do not constitute grounds for reopening cases that the European Commission had already closed. In other words: the green light for state aid approved in Brussels remains unchallenged in the light of these new developments. This was stated by the Executive Vice-President responsible for Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, in response to a parliamentary question tabled by members of the Spanish right following the legal proceedings currently involving the former Socialist head of government.
“The Commission does not currently have any information that would justify
either reopening the case or revoking its decision of 31 July 2020 authorising the
recapitalisation aid scheme in question, the legality of which has been confirmed by the
General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union,” Séjourné said in his reply, in which he also rejected the referral of Zapatero to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the opening of infringement proceedings against Spain. The reason? There are no grounds for it.
“The material competence of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is limited to criminal
offences affecting the financial interests of the European Union,” the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission noted. In the case of the support for Plus Ultra, he stressed. “The Commission’s decision referred to above specifies that the aid
scheme in question has been funded by the Spanish State budget,” and therefore involved no fraud or damage to the EU or its financial interests. “In these circumstances, the
question of whether a criminal offence may have been committed does not seem relevant in
light of the ongoing judicial inquiries.”
