1. Barbara BRANDTNER Head of Unit, Enforcement and Procedural Reform DG Competition Brussels, 6 March 2012 Session 3 : Procedural reform

2. State aid procedures : background (I)  Legal Framework Council Regulation 659/99 of 22 March 1999 (the « Procedural Regulation ») Commission Regulation 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 (the « Implementing Regulation »)  1st step: The Simplification Package of 2009 Best Practices Code Notice on a Simplified Procedure

3. Average inflow of cases 2008-2011Pending cases: almost half complaints (but still more decisions on notifications) State aid procedures : background (II)

4. Average duration of decided cases and age of pending cases

5. Objectives of the reform  Reinforce the efficiency of State aid procedures Need for faster, more transparent and more predictable procedures Need to gather the appropriate information within business relevant deadlines  Better set priorities: More focus on State aid issues which matter at the level of the EU Simplify the treatment of aid measures that have little impact on the functioning of the Internal market

6. How to improve complaints handling ?  Should filters be introduced to improve the quality of the information received from the complainants; e.g. mandatory complaints form?  How should the investigation of a complaint be closed? Is a Commission decision needed in all cases?  Could the role of the national authorities be reinforced?  How could the workload of the Member States, the Commission and third parties be reduced?

7. How to access to complete information within a relevant timeframe and at lower cost ?  How could the necessary information be gathered more quickly to speed up procedures?  How could the administrative burden on Member States of providing information be reduced?  Should the Commission be able to obtain faster/more reliable information from market participants and, if so, under which conditions?  When would this be most appropriate?