EU has no concerns yet about UK's Nissan deal, awaits details

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The European Union's competition chief said on Monday she did not see any concerns over a British assurance to Japanese carmaker Nissan related to Brexit, but that she was still waiting for details to have more clarity about the case.

Nissan agreed last month to new UK investments after Prime Minister Theresa May assured it the government would provide support to counter any loss of competitiveness caused by Britain leaving the EU.

The European Commission subsequently asked for more details.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who makes sure companies do not unfairly benefit from subsidies granted by governments in the 28-country European Union, said British authorities had yet to provide the required information.

"Before we know more, we have no concerns," Vestager told reporters at the sidelines of the Chillin' Competition Conference in Brussels.

Vestager can ask national authorities to recover subsidies that breach the bloc's strict state aid rules. She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) has ordered Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) to claw back up to 13 billion euros ($13.8 billion) in back taxes from iPhone maker Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) .

The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have also been told to recover millions of euros from various companies for illegal sweetheart deals.

($1 = 0.9402 euros) (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Mark Potter)