The European Commission said Friday it was studying a new Italian bankruptcy law rushed through last month in the wake of Parmalat's collapse to see if it breaches EU rules on state aid.

The European Union's executive arm said it had received formal notification from the Italian government about the decree, which offers special protection from creditors for companies employing more than 1,000 people and saddled with debt of more than one billion euros (1.26 billion dollars).

"The commission will examine the provisions of this decree and determine whether these provisions are in line with community rules prohibiting public subsidies," spokesman Reijo Kemppinen told reporters.

The Italian government passed the insolvency decree on December 23 after Parmalat, the country's leading food group, collapsed in an accounting scandal, threatening thousands of jobs and rocking the financial markets.

Tilman Lueder, spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti, said the Italian notification sent to Brussels also set out arguments detailing why the government believed the decree to be in line with EU rules on state aid.

He noted that the commission normally takes two months to rule on the legality of emergency state aid extended to companies in distress, but said this process would be accelerated for Parmalat.

"Everyone is aware that this is an urgent matter that has to be dealt with more quickly if possible," he said, explaining the probe would take "days or a maximum of weeks, not months".