(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission has approved the German bailout package for property lender Hypo Real Estate, praising the action as "part of the solution" during the current financial crisis.

On Monday, the German government and private banks unveiled a rescue plan for Hypo Real Estate, the future of which nonetheless remains uncertain.

Berlin is to guarantee a large part of a 35-billion-euro (50-billion-dollar) credit line drawn up to keep Hypo Real Estate in business.

The EU's executive arm concluded that "the measures comply with EU rules on rescue aid".

This case "demonstrates that state aid control is not part of the problem but part of the solution for ensuring that measures designed for financial stability can be implemented with legal certainty," said EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes in a statement released late Thursday.

"I look forward to continue working closely with the German authorities during any discussions on the future restructuring or liquidation of Hypo Real Estate Holding," she added.

HRE found itself unable to refinance operations owing to a credit crisis that grew worse after the US investment bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in September.

The real estate lender benefitted from one of several high-profile rescue operations announced in Europe since the US financial crisis took its latest turn for the worse about two weeks ago.

The EU authorities had already cleared state-aided bailout operations for troubled British lender Bradford and Bingley and a three-nation rescue package for Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis.

On Wednesday the commission said it was opening an in-depth investigation into the German government's rescue plan for another German financial institution, the regional bank WestLB.

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