On 21 May, the European Commission published a new Notice on State aid in the form of guarantees. The cumulative, much simplified, conditions and criteria set out in the Notice – such as safe harbours predetermining the minimum margin that should be charged for a State guarantee – will be welcomed especially by SMEs. On the other hand, the central role of risk-based, market-orientated and transparent rating systems to check whether a guarantee involves an element of aid may prove problematic in some more established situations. Pascal Schloesslen and Jürgen Foecking have kindly agreed to discuss how the Guarantees Notice should be applied by the lenders and beneficiaries of these increasingly popular business support mechanisms in many Member States.