By its second question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 3(1) of Directive 93/13 must be interpreted as meaning that the terms of a loan agreement which provide that payments at fixed intervals are initially subject to interest and which provide for the payment of the balance of the account, which may increase significantly as a result of fluctuations in the exchange rate between the currency of the account and the currency of payment. in the event of an extension of the duration of the contract and an increase in the monthly payments, result in a significant imbalance of the rights and obligations of the parties under this Contract to the detriment of the consumer, if these clauses expose the consumer to a disproportionate exchange rate risk. The macro-financial assistance programme with Lebanon consists of a €30 million grant and a €50 million loan, both of which will be disbursed in two tranches. The first tranche of the loan (EUR 25 million) was disbursed at the beginning of June 2009. In December 2009, the Commission extended the period of availability of the second tranche of the aid programme, which now expires on 21 December 2010. The disbursement of the second instalment shall be subject to compliance with the conditions contained in the agreement concluded with the national authorities. Table 1: Disbursements of loans for macro-financial assistance*, Euratom to third countries and balance of payments loans to non-euro area Member States – Armenia (Council Decision 2009/890/EC), consisting of a grant of EUR 35 million and a loan facility of up to EUR 65 million. The EU`s macro-financial assistance will complement the support of other donors and help meet Armenia`s financing needs in 2010-2011 and mitigate the impact of the financial crisis. The MFA`s implementation conditions will complement the conditionality of the IMF program and will include the satisfactory implementation of the program, as well as the proposed reforms in the areas of public financial management, debt management, procurement policy, and customs policy. Thus, as regards the terms of a loan agreement relating to ordinary interest or default interest, the Court has held that the annulment of the term of a loan agreement fixing the default interest rate cannot, by reason of the unfairness of that term, also have the effect of fixing the ordinary interest rate of the term contained in that contract. especially since those various references must be clearly distinguished (judgment of 7 August 2018, Banco Santander and Escobedo Cortés, C-96/16 and C-94/17, EU:C:2018:643, paragraph 76).

In that regard, it is apparent from the case-law of the Court that, in the context of a loan agreement denominated in a foreign currency, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, the referring court, having regard to all the circumstances of the case in the main proceedings, having regard in particular to the expertise and knowledge of the trader of any fluctuations in exchange rates and the risks associated with the subscription of a loan in a currency on the one hand, on the possible failure to comply with the requirement of good faith and, on the other, on the existence of a significant imbalance within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 93/13 (see, to that effect, judgment of 20 September 2017, Andriciuc and Others (C-186/16, EU:C:2017:703, paragraph 56). In the light of the foregoing, the answer to the first question is that Article 4(4) of the Treaty on European Union Article 2 of Directive 93/13 must be interpreted as meaning that the provisions of the loan agreement which provide that repayments at fixed intervals are initially to be used for interest and which provide for an extension of the duration of that contract and an increase in the monthly instalments in order to to pay the balance of the account fall within the scope of that provision where those clauses constitute an essential element characterising the contract. In that regard, it should be noted that the quantitative simulations to which the referring court refers may constitute useful information if they are based on sufficient and precise data and contain objective assessments communicated to the consumer in clear and intelligible language. It is only under those conditions that such simulations can enable the seller or supplier to draw the consumer`s attention to the risk of potentially significant adverse economic consequences of the contractual terms at issue. Like all other information on the extent of the consumer`s obligation provided by the trader, quantitative simulations should help the consumer to understand the true extent of the risk associated with possible long-term exchange rate fluctuations and thus the risks associated with entering into a loan agreement denominated in a foreign currency. In order to assess whether the terms of a contract such as those at issue in the main proceedings entail, to the detriment of the consumer, a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties to the loan agreement containing those conditions, account must therefore be taken of all the circumstances which might have been known to the professional lender at the time of conclusion of the contract, knowing its expertise with regard to possible fluctuations in exchange rates and the risks associated with the subscription of such a loan that were likely to affect the subsequent performance of this contract and the legal situation of the consumer. 3 para. Paragraph 1 of Directive 93/13 must be interpreted as meaning that the assessment of the unfairness of a contractual term must be carried out in the light of the date of conclusion of the contract in question, taking into account all the circumstances of which the seller or supplier might have been aware at that time and which were liable to affect the future performance of that contract. It is for the referring court, having regard to all the circumstances of the case in the main proceedings and, in particular, to take account of the expertise and knowledge of the trader, in this case the bank, to assess any fluctuations in exchange rates and the risks associated with the subscription of a loan in a foreign currency, namely the existence of a possible imbalance within the meaning of that provision ….