The French plan to rescue the financial industry do not disrupt competition, says EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes .

The European Commission on Thursday cleared French and Dutch plans to preserve their lenders from the global credit squeeze.

Both were judged to be in line with EU rules on community aid and with guidelines reported by the European Union’s executive arm on 13 October.

These say that any rescue package should be limited in time and range and must not discriminate against foreign-based banks operating in that country.