ESA adopts revised state ECA/corporate aid guidelines

(ECA Watch, Ottawa, 31 December 2021) The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) which monitors non-EU European Free Trade Association States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) has adopted two sets of revised guidelines in the field of state aid: one on the promotion of risk finance investments and another on short-term export credit insurance. Both guidelines correspond to guidelines adopted by the European Commission and aim to ensure [the fiction of] a level playing field for businesses across the EEA. State aid for export credits monitored by the EU [and the OECD] enable foreign buyers of goods and services to defer payment. This entails a credit risk for sellers, for which they can insure themselves. This is known as export credit insurance. The guidelines will [supposedly] help ensure that state aid does not distort competition in the EEA among private and public - or publicly supported - export credit insurers, and create a level playing field among exporters.