EUROPEAN REACTION:EU COMPETITION commissioner Joaquín Almunia is seeking "important" clarifications on the Government's new rescue plan for Anglo Irish Bank before handing down his judgment on the proposal.

Given pledges already provided by the Government to allow as much as €25 billion to Anglo, the clarifications in question are believed to centre on the funding and capital aspects of the plan.

Although Mr Almunia said he had a positive view of the initiative to divide Anglo into a “funding” bank and an “asset recovery” bank, he said he awaited a formal notification of the proposal from Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan.

The commission rejected the first restructuring plan for Anglo last March and called for revisions. Like the original proposal, the revision made the case for a division of Anglo into “good” and “bad” banks. Noting that his office has been assessing the revised plan since May, Mr Almunia made a point of saying he welcomed the clarification from Mr Lenihan on what “would now” be the Irish preferred option for Anglo.

“I view this new option positively as it would deal better with the distortions of competition,” he said in a statement. “However, a number of important aspects still need to be clarified, and a new notification received, before the commission is in a position to finalise its assessment and to take a decision.” His spokeswoman declined to set out the nature of clarifications he is seeking.

Labour MEP Alan Kelly, who spoke briefly about Anglo with Mr Almunia on Tuesday, said the new proposal would see one part of Anglo wound down in the fast lane while the other was wound down in the slow lane.

“For political reasons Minister Lenihan can’t say that this is still a plan for the gradual wind-down of Anglo,” Mr Kelly said.