Brussels,03/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday the European Commission decided that the exemption from Dutch corporation tax granted to the Schiphol Group, the company which owes and operates Amsterdam Schiphol airport, constitutes a "state aid". The Netherlands should therefore discontinue the exemption in favour of the Schiphol Group by 1 January 2002. According to rules on state aids, this corporation tax exemption granted to the Schiphol Group did not necessarily distort competition but is now considered as an "existing aid" and in an increasingly liberalised environment has the potential to affect trade between Member States and distort competition between airports. In a press release, the European Commission points out that competition between airports, "is likely to be limited for small and medium airports", whereas the airport of Amsterdam-Schiphol, "is a major European hub which plays a role of international connecting point" and can be considered as being in competition with other airports in the EU.