The European Commission has decided to open an investigation into a proposed Dutch scheme to help glasshouse horticulture. The public contribution would be €15 123 000 and two companies would be set up to purchase land and glasshouses, manage them temporarily and resell them.

The information at present available to the Commission does not enable it to decide whether the aid provided under the scheme both to the two companies and to horticulturists complies with the European Union rules on State aid (including those on aid for rescuing and restructuring enterprises in difficulty).

After receiving official notification of the decision the Dutch authorities will have one month in which to notify their observations and provide all necessary clarification. The decision will also be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities and other interested parties will have one month from the date of publication to transmit their observations. These will be passed on to the Netherlands, which will be able to comment on them.

When it has received the clarification requested from the Dutch authorities and any observations from interested parties and the Netherlands' comments on these, the Commission will speedily give its decision on compatibility of the scheme with the common market.