By Charlotte GAUCHON
26 March 2025
Export credits are an essential tool in international trade. In the European Union, they are governed by a complex legal framework, between competition law and the common commercial policy. Understanding these rules is crucial for exporting companies and their banks. State aid prohibited in intra-Community trade European law penalises subsidised export credits within the single market. Article 87 of the EC Treaty (now Article 107 TFEU) clearly prohibits such aid between Member States. Case law confirms this prohibition. On 10 February 1969, the Court of Justice of the European Communities condemned France for its system of rediscounting export credits at a preferential rate (CJCE, 10 févr. 1969 : D. 1971, jurispr. p. 665, note Gavalda). Several Commission decisions subsequently reiterated this prohibition. Member States had to gradually abandon their financial support programmes for intra-European exports....
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