Advantage. The aid measure must confer on the cooperatives advantages that relieve them of charges that are normally borne from their budgets. As referred to above, the proposed tax deduction implies that the tax payable by the cooperatives covered by the scheme is reduced. Thereby, the measure relieves them of charges that are normally borne from their budgets. However, the Norwegian authorities argue that the proposed tax deduction does not confer an advantage on the cooperatives because the tax deduction must be regarded as compensation for the obligations imposed on the cooperatives by law, and in particular the prohibition for cooperatives to issue shares or other capital certificates or securities in order to strengthen their equity capital. The Norwegian authorities go on to argue that the said prohibition is inherent in the legal form of cooperatives. Furthermore, the issue of safeguarding the cooperatives, with the legal restrictions and obligations imposed on them, as an alternative to companies organised as limited companies, etc., is of public interest. It is the Authority's understanding that the Norwegian authori- ties consider that the proposed aid is a part of a bargain whereby the State, on the one hand, achieves that the coopera- tives in their current form are safeguarded. The cooperatives, on the other hand, obtain compensation for the disadvantages with regard to equity capital imposed on them by law in the form of a tax concession. The Norwegian authorities refer to the Opinion of Advocate General Xxxxxxxx in Case 251/97 (1) to justify their argumenta- tion, and in particular argue that the obligations imposed on the cooperatives are wholly external to the interests of the coopera- tives themselves. The obligations are only advantageous for the State, and the cooperatives should therefore be compensated for their services. The Norwegian authorities have referred to the market investor principle as a justification for the scheme in the notification. It is the opinion of the Authority that in this case the market investor principle cannot be applied, simply because the notified measure is a fiscal measure which, as the Authority sees it, has nothing to do with the State's possible behaviour as a market investor. The question remains whether the State may grant compensa- tion for disadvantage of the cooperatives with regard to equity capital without this amounting to State aid within the meaning of Article 61(1) of the EEA Agreement (2). First, the...
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