www.WirelessFederation.com/news: EUR9 billion credit line offered by the French government to France Telecom SA in 2002 and which has been declared as  state aid by the European commission, has been ruled out as legal state aid by a European Court, thus annulling the EU decision. The credit was never used by the telecom operator. In 2002, the French government promised a loan of EUR9 billion in the wake of huge losses for France Telecom. France Telecom never accepted the offer though the mere proposal of it had a decisive influence on the reaction of the ratings agencies.  As per a statement by Luxembourg-based General Court of the European Union, the proposal was key to encourage investors and decisive for the conduct of the financial market players who subsequently participated in France Telecom's refinancing. Since there was never a real transfer of state resources, the loan cannot be considered state aid. French authorities aimed at assuring France Telecom of their support at a time when the operator was experiencing a major crisis and according to the court it cannot be classified as state aid. According to Martina Maier, partner at law firm Howrey, it was clear that the commission had really stretched the meaning of state aid but the implications of the decisions will be felt further on the political side and this now means that politicians making these statements will not be challenged on their promises.