16/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission is expected to authorise the Belgian state's EUR 124 million loan for Sabena, the Belgian airline that has gone into in receivership. According to information in the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, the decision was taken in line with the guidelines on aid for rescuing struggling companies, and was based on the following arguments: 1) the 6.33% interest rate meets market criteria; 2) the aid will help cope with a grave social situation, since 13,200 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect jobs are at stake; 3) it does not damage competition in that the restructuring programme will have to be implemented in no more than three years; 4) the company will not be eligible for any further aid if, when it is restructured, it has the same shareholders as at present. Asked about the "necessary restructuring" of the aviation sector announced at the Transport Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday (see above) the President of the Transport Council, Isabelle Durant, stressed that "everything would be done to ensure there was still an airline in Brussels". She added that it was important not to confuse aid for restructuring with aid for consolidation since the Sabena loan will help the company get through the consolidation stage before measures are taken in terms of either disposing of the weak elements or selling them off, and it is the latter that is at stake.