Press Release: State aid: Commission concludes that two loans to recyclable waste collection company VAOP do not constitute aid

The European Commission has closed an in-depth investigation under EC Treaty state aid rules, concluding that two loans to the Dutch recyclable waste collection company VAOP, one granted by the Dutch bank BNG and one granted by several municipalities, do not constitute state aid. On the first loan, the Commission found that a privately owned bank had offered at the same time financing to VAOP, that BNG had requested adequate securities and that the financial terms of the loan do not point to state aid. On the second loan, the Commission found that the municipalities concerned had certain existing claims against VAOP. Transforming a part of these claims into a loan was more favourable to them than letting VAOP go bankrupt. Accordingly, they have acted as typical creditors in a market economy and their behaviour does not constitute state aid.