The European Commission has approved the Dutch government’s €3bn aid package to insurer Aegon, reports Reuters news agency.

The financing is from a €20bn fund set up by The Hague to help financial institutions hit by the credit crisis.
“The capital injection is necessary to maintain the markets’ confidence in Aegon and to ensure the refinancing of this company,” EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes is quoted as saying in a statement.
A loss of confidence in Aegon would have led to a further disturbance of the current situation and harmful spillover effects to the economy as a whole, the Commission added.