Commission approves €26.7 million Spanish measure to support the upgrade of Cobre Las Cruces' refinery

The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, a €26.7 million Spanish measure to support Cobre Las Cruces S.A. (‘CLC') in upgrading its refinery in Gerena, Sevilla. The measure will contribute to the EU's strategic objectives relating to the European Green Deal and to regional development.

In particular, the measure will help CLC transform its mono-metallurgical refinery, exclusively extracting and producing copper to date, into a poly-metallurgical refinery. The upgraded single integrated refinery will be capable of extracting and producing several metals, namely copper, zinc, lead and silver. The aid will take the form of two direct grants totalling €26.7 million.

The Commission assessed the measure under EU State aid rules, in particular Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU'), which allows aid to promote the economic development of areas where the standard of living is abnormally low or where there is serious underemployment, and the Regional Aid Guidelines (‘RAG'). On this basis, the Commission approved the Spanish measure under EU State aid rules.

Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager (pictured), in charge of competition policy, said: "This €26.7m measure enables Spain to support Cobre Las Cruces in transforming its refinery, allowing it to produce various key metals necessary for the transition to a decarbonised economy. The measure will also contribute to the development of the region, while limiting possible distortions of competition."

A press release is available online.

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