European Commission drops investigation of Czech CASA aircraft purchase

The European Commission has closed the case against the Czech Republic for breaching EU public procurement rules in the 2009 purchase of four Spanish CASA military aircraft. In a statement on Thursday, the commission said it still had doubts about the 132 million euro deal which was awarded without proper tendering procedures; however, the case was dropped as Czech authorities provided assurances that in the future EU rules would be observed. Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra told reporters the commission’s decision had been the result of Czech diplomatic efforts.

Author: Jan Richter