13.12.2 Has the Commission consistently taken into account these relevant characteristics?

The strategy to exit from State aid is usually mentioned in the bank State aid decisions, although the Commission does not frequently use the term “exit strategy”; more often, the specific terms ‘reprivatisation’ and ‘repayment’ are used.

In addition, it is noteworthy that the exit strategy is not always mentioned in the same part of the decision. In some decisions, it is mentioned in the description of the restructuring plan; while in some other decisions, it is mentioned in the assessment of whether the aid is limited to the minimum (i.e. the second pillar). There are also decisions in which the exit strategy is addressed in the context of competition distortions (i.e. the third pillar). In some decisions, the exit from State aid is mentioned twice. For instance, in the decision on BPI, the Commission noted that “such repayment of the aid ensures that the aid is limited to the minimum necessary”1 and that “BPI has already repaid more than one- third of the total aid amount which is an important contribution to limit potential distortions of competition”.2