European Union

Under Art 107(1) TFEU, save as otherwise provided in the Treaties, any aid granted by a member state or through state resources in any form whatsoever which distorted or threatened to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods was, in so far as it affected trade between member states, incompatible with the internal market. However, the conditions which a measure should meet in order to be treated as “aid” for the purposes of Art 107 TFEU were not met if the recipient undertaking could, in circumstances which corresponded to normal market conditions, have obtained the same advantage as that which had been made available to it through state resources. That assessment was made when a public creditor granted payment facilities in respect of a debt payable to it by an undertaking, by applying, in principle, the private creditor test. That test, where applicable, was among the factors which the Commission was required to take into account for the purposes