(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission on Thursday launched an in-depth probe into Polish state funding for a printing plant in a poor part of Poland on doubts the operation met EU rules.

Europe's top competition watchdog expressed fears that a new magazine and catalogue in the region of Lower Silesia would harm competition by adding yet more capacity to an already struggling market.

Poland aims to provide funding of over 47 million euros (73 million dollars) for a rotogravure plant owned by German company BVG in Nowogrodziec, southwest Poland, mainly through tax breaks, according to the commission

"The rotogravure market is growing less quickly than the economy as a whole and the BVG project intends to create a lot of new capacity," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

"We need to make sure that the aid would not unduly distort competitive conditions in this market," she added.

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