EC exempts more aid measures from prior notification
22 May 2014 04:21 PM
As another milestone of its
state aid modernisation (SAM) initiative, the European Commission has
considerably extended the scope of exemptions from prior notification of state
aid granted to companies. Under the revised General Block Exemption Regulation
(GBER), Member States will be able to grant more aid measures and higher
amounts without having to notify them to the Commission for prior
authorisation, because they are less likely to lead to undue distortions of
competition in the Single Market. This will significantly reduce the
administrative burden for Member States and local authorities and increase
legal certainty for aid beneficiaries. The Regulation will enter into force on
1 July 2014. See also MEMO/14/369.
Commission Vice-President, in
charge of competition policy, Joaquín Almunia,
said: "These new rules will cut red tape for Member States and
encourage them to put in place smart aid measures which contribute to economic
growth and do not harm fair competition. If Member States make full use of the
possibilities for granting aid under the extended exemptions from notification,
most aid measures could be immediately implemented, without prior approval from
the Commission."
As a rule, except for aid of a
very low amount, state aid measures granted by Member States to undertakings
must be notified to the European Commission for prior approval. However, the
General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) exempts aid measures from prior
notification if certain conditions are respected. The previous Regulation,
adopted in 2008, covers approximately 60% of all aid measures and slightly more
than 30% of the aid amounts granted each year in the EU. Based on 2012 data,
the Commission estimates that about 3/4 of today's state aid
measures and some 2/3 of aid amounts will be exempted under the
revised GBER. Even more aid measures could be exempted if Member States make
smart use of the possibilities offered by the Regulation, designing their aid
schemes so that they meet the conditions required. Aid measures which are not
covered by the GBER will continue to be assessed by the Commission under the
relevant state aid guidelines.
In line with the objectives
of State Aid Modernisation (SAM) (see IP/12/458), the new Regulation encourages
"good aid" which stimulates economic growth, job creation and other
objectives of common interest. It also reduces the
administrative burden for Member State and allows the
faster deployment of aid for companies. Finally, it enables the Commission to
concentrate its scrutiny on the aid measures which are most likely to distort
competition in the Single Market, while also conducting improved ex post
monitoring of measures benefitting from the exemption.
The key improvements brought by
the revised GBER are the following:
-
Greater scope through
increased thresholds: The exemption thresholds for many measures
that were already covered by the existing GBER have been raised, allowing
Member States to grant higher aid amounts without prior notification. For some
categories of aid, the scope has also been increased through more flexible
eligibility conditions, more favourable maximum aid intensities and higher aid
amounts.
-
Greater scope through
additional categories of aid: The adoption of a revised Enabling
Regulation (seeIP/13/728) allowed the Commission to exempt new
categories, such as aid for local, broadband, research and energy
infrastructures, innovation clusters, regional urban development funds, culture
and heritage conservation, audio-visual works, sports and recreational
infrastructures and aid to make good damage caused by certain natural
disasters.
-
Simplification: taking on board feedback from the public consultations and in accordance
with the objectives of the SAM, the conditions that aid measures should meet to
benefit from the exemption have been significantly clarified and
simplified.
The significantly enlarged scope
of the exemptions from prior notification goes hand in hand with appropriate
safeguards to preserve competition in the Single Market, through improved
ex-post controls. The Commission will improve its monitoring of the aid granted
under the GBER and will request Member States to carry out evaluations on the
effects of some large aid schemes in order to better assess their actual
impact and facilitate future improvements (see MEMO/14/369). Aid measures will also be made more transparent,
by asking Member States to publish lists of the aid beneficiaries (see IP/14/588).
See MEMO/14/369 for more details on the changes introduced by the
new GBER.
The Regulation is available
at:
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/block.html#gber
Background
On 8th May 2012 the
Commission adopted a Communication on State Aid
Modernisation setting out the objectives of an ambitious reform
package (see IP/12/458). The modernisation of state aid control has three main,
closely linked objectives: foster growth in a strengthened, dynamic and
competitive internal market, focus enforcement on cases with the biggest impact
on the internal market, and streamlined rules and faster decisions. As
part of this package, the Commission has already reformed its state aid
procedures (see IP/13/728) and adopted new guidelines on state aid for broadband
(see IP/12/1424), regional development (see IP/13/569), cinema (see IP/13/1074), airports and airlines (see IP/14/172), risk finance (see IP/14/21), energy and environment (see IP/14/400), as well as a recent adoption of new rules for public
measures in favour of research, development and innovation (see IP/14/586).
The Commission already carried
out four public consultations in the context of the revision of the GBER (seeIP/12/627, MEX/13/0508, IP/13/736, and IP/13/1281).
State aid measures not
automatically exempted from prior notification by the GBER are not necessarily
incompatible with EU state aid rules. They simply have to be notified by Member
States to the Commission, who then examines whether they are in line with EU
state aid rules under existing guidelines and frameworks.
Contacts :
Antoine
Colombani (+32 2 297 45 13, Twitter:
@ECspokesAntoine)
Yizhou
Ren (+32 2 299 48 89)
For the
public: Europe Direct by
phone 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or by email
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