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BRUSSELS, June 11 (Reuters) - European Union regulators areexamining a complaint by ferry group Scandlines accusing Danishauthorities of giving billions of euros in illegal statesubsidies to state-owned builder Femern A/S to build a tunnelbetween Denmark and Germany.
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link project, due to start next year,will connect the Danish island of Lolland to Fehmarn island onthe German side. It consists of a four-lane motorway and adouble-track railway which is due to be completed in 2021.
The EU executive can order national authorities to recoverstate aid if it is deemed to give companies an unfair advantage.
In its complaint to the European Commission, seen byReuters, Scandlines, owned by private equity investor3i, said the Danish measures included state loanswithout a fixed repayment period and various tax benefits.
"All these measures confer a selective advantage upon thecompanies through state resources, distort competition andaffect trade between member states," the complaint said.
Danish authorities were not immediately available tocomment.
The European Commission said it was aware of the issue.
"We can confirm that we have received and are assessing thiscomplaint," the EU state aid authority said in a statement. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and additional reporting by OleMikkelsen in Copenhagen; Editing by James Macharia)
