EU asks Romania to clarify aid for Nokia plant

BRUSSELS, March 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it had written to Romania's government to request more information about possible state subsidies for a plant operated by mobile phone maker Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research). "I can confirm that the competition department of the Commission wrote to the Romanian authorities back in February and that we received a reply on March 17," Jonathan Todd, the Commission's competition spokesman, told a daily news briefing.

The Commission, the EU executive, was "examining carefully" the information received from Romania, he said, adding that no formal state aid investigation had yet been opened.

"The reason we wrote is purely precautionary, just to establish whether there has been any state subsidy and if so, whether those subsidies are in line with EU state aid rules," Todd said. (Reporting by Jeremy Smith; Editing by Dale Hudson)