Brussels, 05/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - The president of the European Commission refused to comment on press rumours, especially in Italy, surrounding loans from the Italian state to Alitalia. Johannes Laitenberger informed the press on Thursday that “no decision has been taken about the case or calendar”. The Commission is examining the loan conditions to ensure they correspond with normal market conditions that would be acceptable to a private investor. If this is not the case, the loan will be considered state aid and Alitalia has no right to state aid before 2011 because it benefited from restructuring aid in 2001. An expert from the City of London said that with its daily losses of more than a million Euros and its unionised staff, “it is difficult to imagine Alitalia being of interest to private investors”. The Italian under secretary of state for the economy, however, Luigi Casero, affirmed in Thursday's parliamentary newsletter than “informal” negotiations with the Commission had suggested that the latter had a “positive view” of the Italian decree framing the disputed loan. (C.D.)