b'No order may authorise a Best Value authority to do in relation to a person anything which it is authorised, apart from this section, to do in relation to him for a commercial purpose.Some practitioners have suggested there could be conflict between the 2003 Act trading powers and the 1970 Act powers permitting inter-authority trading by agreement at a price determined between them, ie If there are powers to trade elsewhere for particular purposes, the 2003 Act states these should be used. However, close analysis of what powers are being utilised and for what purpose is necessary in order to establish which of the two available statutes provide the best fit for what is proposed. For example, where two or more local authorities collaborate (either by agreement or through a separate company) it might be argued that they are not acting for a commercial purpose (section 95). Rather, they are primarily seeking to achieve efficiencies of scale, rationalisation or other savings to the public purse and to improve services for users. They may make surpluses (or losses) from their activities, but that would not be the prime motivation of establishing arrangements under the 1970 Act. Consequently, the 1970 Act might be the statute of choice for so called shared services arrangements by and between public bodieswhereas, the 2003 Act could be utilised if the range of users of the services are wider than simply defined public bodies. In this way, apparent conflicts between these two pieces of legislation could be avoided or resolved. State aid and competition law5.10 The local authority is establishing a separate entity, namely a company, and may provide financial assistance to that entity. In doing so, the local authority must have regard to State aid rules. This is a specialist area, where external advice is likely to be necessary. In outline, the State aid rules are intended to ensure that market forces may operate freely across Europe with no unwarranted interference through the State (national government) or an organ of the state such as a local authority. The following criteria must be met in order for State aid issues to arise: the aid must affect or have the potential to affect trade between Member States; the measure granting aid must have the effect of distorting or have the potential to distort competition by conferring a benefit; the aid must be paid through (directly or indirectly) state resources; and the aid favours certain undertakings, or the production of certain goods. In relation to the need for an effect on intra-community trade the Commission and the European Court of Justice have traditionally interpreted this concept fairly widely. It does not matter that the entity concerned does not, and never intends to, operate outside of the UK; the issue is whether the goods or services in which the entity trades are potentially subject to intra-community trade. In practice, this criterion will be met where any undertaking, or the production of particular goods, is supported through state resources. 62'