Poland cannot pay around €26 million in public support to MAN Trucks for expanding its factory in Niepołomice after the European Commission found the measure breaches EU state aid rules.
The planned support — worth about PLN 116 million — was intended to help increase production capacity at MAN Trucks Sp. z o. o.’s site in the Małopolskie region, the European Commission said in a release on Monday.
An in-depth investigation was opened in July 2025 to assess whether the aid complied with the EU’s rules on government support for businesses.
The Commission stated that it accepted that the project could support economic development and jobs in a less advantaged EU region, but still had doubts about whether the aid met the conditions set out in the EU’s regional state aid guidelines.
Why the Commission rejected the aid
Poland did not show that the subsidy was decisive in MAN Trucks choosing to invest in Poland, the Commission concluded.
Evidence reviewed during the investigation did not demonstrate that MAN would have invested in a different location without the support.
Poland also failed to demonstrate that the proposed amount was the minimum necessary, meaning the aid was not proportionate, .
Because the support did not have a “real incentive effect” and was not proportionate, the Commission found it incompatible with EU state aid rules and said Poland cannot put the aid into effect.
A non-confidential version of the decision is due to be published later in the Commission’s state aid register under case number SA.114436.
