Brussels, 22/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - This week, the European Commission authorised a Dutch state guarantee scheme for financial institutions providing loans to Dutch shipyards to finance shipbuilding. Guarantee premiums will be charged, varying according to the loan risk, to cover the risks of payments and the administrative costs generated by the scheme. Consequently, the scheme should be self-financing and therefore does not constitute state aid and does not risk distorting competition in the single market. EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “Financial institutions remain reluctant to grant financing to shipbuilding, even where it has been restructured and now specialises in high technology ships. I am therefore happy to approve a scheme which is free of State aid and which can help Dutch shipyards to receive financing. ” The scheme will help to solve the problems of the shipbuilding industry in accessing financing for the construction of ships, that were identified in the LeaderSHIP 2015 report. The state guarantees will amount to a maximum of 80% of the loan. Loans to yards in difficulty will be automatically excluded from this scheme. Premiums will be revised (and adjusted, if necessary) on a yearly basis to ensure that it covers the risks of payments and the administrative costs generated by the scheme. The Commission approved a similar scheme in Germany in December 2003.