Press Release: State aid: Commission endorses Dutch guarantee scheme for financing shipbuilding

The European Commission on 20 July 2005 authorised, under the EC Treaty's state aid rules, a state guarantee scheme introduced by the Netherlands. Under this scheme guarantees were to be granted to financial institutions providing loans to Dutch shipyards in order to finance the construction of ships. Guarantee premiums were to be charged and would vary according to the risk of the loan. The premium level would cover the risks of payments and the administrative costs generated by the scheme. Consequently, the scheme should be self-financing. This measure therefore did not constitute state aid and did not threaten to distort competition in the single market.