Press Release: State aid: Commission endorses temporary UK subsidised interest rates scheme to counter credit squeeze

The European Commission authorised under EC Treaty rules on state aid a UK scheme aimed at relieving firms that encounter financial difficulties as a result of the credit squeeze in the current economic crisis. The measure allows national, regional and local authorities to grant aid in the form of reduced interest rates on loans of any duration concluded by 31 December 2010. The scheme meets the conditions of the Commission’s Temporary Framework for state aid measures, which gives Member States additional scope to facilitate access to financing in the present economic and financial crisis. In particular, it is limited in time and only applies to companies that were not in difficulties on 1 July 2008. It is therefore compatible with Article 87(3)(b) of the EC Treaty, which permits aid to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State.