Brussels, 26/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 26 September, the European Commission closed an in-depth investigation concluding that a guarantee of the French government insuring a loan granted to the Finnish electricity producer TVO does not constitute state aid. The guaranteed loan finances the purchase by TVO of a part of a nuclear power plant from the French company AREVA NP (formerly Framatome). The Commission found that the guarantee would confer no advantage to TVO. First, the Commission found that TVO had sufficient access to financial markets to finance the whole project without any state intervention. The financing of the project is therefore not dependent on the state guarantee. Second, the guarantee premium paid by TVO to the French government is not below the market price. (ol)