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The members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) call for easier conditions, broader definitions and more legal certainty and support for local and regional actors when it comes to EU's state-aid controls. Theopinion drafted by Markus Töns (DE/PES) was adopted during the October plenary session.

EU law insures that aid granted by Member States doesn't distort competition and trade within the EU. The general prohibition of state aid also includes regional and local authorities providing public services, also called services of general economic interest (SGEI). Special exceptions are in place but rules have become very detailed and complex.

" In particular, smaller local and regional authorities are lacking the resources and capacity to follow developments at the EU level. This prevents them not only from making their voices heard in on-going debates, but also from taking advantage of the special conditions available for SGEIs under the EU state-aid rules and thus hampering public investment. We need less red tape but more guidance, coordinated procedures and dialogue ", said Markus Töns, member of the North Rhine-Westphalia regional assembly and rapporteur on the topic:

The rapporteur welcomes the latest decisions by the European Commission on Spain, Portugal and Germany saying that purely local public measures do not constitute state aid as they don't affect trade between Member States. At the same time he calls for the same general exempt from state aid scrutiny for co-financed project under the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and the European Fund für Strategic Investment (EFSI) as well as for infrastructure investments in energy, broadband, airports and ports.

" Let's not forget that SGEIs and public investment play a prominent role for growth and employment and that the vast number of local SGEIs have purely local effect. What we still need is more legal certainty for local and regional authorities when deciding which activities they can support without breaching the rules. This includes further objective criteria as well as a limitation of the appeals period to five years, which should only be lodged by parties directly financially affected," said Mr Töns.

The members of the CoR further suggest widening the concept of SGEI reflecting new developments and social services such as assistance to refugees or digital infrastructure, where free markets fail to meet the needs as well as the widening of the definition of social housing.

The local and regional leaders also hope that future international agreements that aim at market liberalisation will guarantee the exemption of SGEIs and will not prejudice the right of the EU, its Member States and their subnational authorities to regulate or provide services themselves. 

Contact: 
Carmen Schmidle 
Tel. +32 (0)2 282 2366 
Mobile: +32 (0)494 735787 
carmen.schmidle@cor.europa.eu