Revised General Block Exemption Regulation to come into force on 1 July

The European Commission has adopted a revised General Block Exemption (GBER), meaning that more state aid measures and higher amounts can be given without them having to be notified to Brussels for prior authorisation.

This was because “they are less likely to lead to undue distortions of competition in the Single Market”, the Commission said, adding that this would “significantly reduce the administrative burden for member states and local authorities and increase legal certainty for aid beneficiaries”.

The Commission cited the following as “key improvements”:

  • 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.”
  • Additional categories of aid: “The adoption of a revised Enabling Regulation 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 (state aid modernisation programme), the conditions that aid measures should meet to benefit from the exemption have been significantly clarified and simplified.”

The Commission said about three quarters of today’s state aid measures and two thirds of aid amounts would be exempted under the revised GBER, which will enter into force on 1 July 2014.

This contrasts with approximately 60% and 30% respectively under the current draft of the regulation.

The Commission insisted that the revised GBER would encourage ‘good aid’ that stimulates economic growth, job creation and other objectives of common interest.

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."

Brussels added that the changes would mean it could focus its scrutiny on those aid measures most likely to distort the market and which are still caught by the regulation.

Ex-post controls will also be improved, through a requirement to evaluate large aid schemes, while member states will be asked to publish lists of aid beneficiaries.

The revised GBER can be viewed here.

The Commission has also published a memorandum providing more detail on the changes. It covers:

  • What is the block exemption regulation?
  • What are the objectives of the revised GBER?
  • What will be the impact of the GBER?
  • What are the main new elements of the GBER? This includes information on new categories of aid that are exempted; the broadening of categories already previously covered by the regulation; and higher notification thresholds and aid intensities;
  • How will the Commission check the compliance of all these measures with the GBER?
  • What is state aid evaluation? Which state aid schemes will be evaluated?
  • How evaluation will work in practice
  • What measures are included in the GBER? Regional aid; aid for SMEs; Aid for access to finance for SMEs; the provision on aid for start-ups – aid for research, development and innovation; training aid; aid for disadvantaged workers and for workers with disabilities; aid for environmental protection; aid to make good damages caused by certain natural disasters; social aid for transport for residents of remote regions; aid for broadband infrastructure; aid for culture and heritage conservation; aid to schemes for audio-visual works; aid for sport and multinational recreational infrastructures; aid for local infrastructure.

The memorandum can be viewed here.