Brussels - The European Union's executive on Tuesday approved a German plan to stave off recession by offering firms over 15 billion euros (21.3 billion dollars) in low-interest loans, officials confirmed.

The European Commission, which oversees the EU's strict rules on state aid and fair competition, decided that the plan was appropriate to "remedy a serious disturbance in the economy," a press release issued in Brussels said.

The German plan consists of a loan fund of up to 15 billion euros for companies which have difficulties in borrowing money due to the global financial squeeze.

The maximum low-interest loan any one firm can receive from the scheme is 50 million euros, with companies whose turnover is greater than 500 million euros per year excluded.

The plan also includes a separate programme capped at 500,000 euros per company for emergency grants to firms operating on the local or national level.

Both programmes are short-term and were drawn up in line with the commission's recently-revised rules on state aid, the statement said.

In recent months the commission has dealt with a slew of state-aid cases as EU member states have rushed to protect their financial sectors in the global storm.

The pressure has been so great that the Brussels executive has revised its own state-aid rules to make it easier to deal with the crisis.

The German plan is the first one aimed at protecting the "real" (i. e. non-financial) economy from recession to be approved under the commission's revised system, the statement said. (dpa)