A member company of a European aircraft-making consortium received large subsidies from its national government under the terms of an agreement to cover exchange rate losses. American rivals claim that these were equivalent to an export subsidy of about $2.5 million for every aircraft sold by the consortium in 1990, and took the complaint to GATT. Another illegal subsidy case involving the French car industry almost went to the European Court of Justice for ruling.
In 1996 a UK businessman succeeded in persuading the European Commission to investigate claims that a Spanish competitor had received illegal state aid in defiance of the rules of European competition.