02/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - France. On 1st February, the European Commission authorised an extension until 31 December 2011 of a temporary French scheme for granting aid in the form of loans with subsidised interest rates for companies experiencing financing difficulties as a result of the credit crunch. The scheme was first approved on 4 February 2009 (see EUROPE 9834) and covered interest payments until 31 December 2012. This has now been extended by 12 months, to 31 December 2013 at the latest. Since the extended scheme does not apply to companies in difficulty, the Commission found the extension of the scheme to be in line with the stricter conditions of its Temporary Framework for business access to finance during the crisis, adopted in December 2010. (F.G./transl.rt)