Press Release: State aid: Commission authorises a temporary French scheme allowing aid to firms in the form of reduced interest rates

The Commission authorised under EC Treaty rules on state aid a scheme to provide relief for firms encountering financing difficulties as a result of the credit squeeze in the current economic crisis. The scheme allows government, local authorities and some public bodies 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. 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’.