1. State aid Modernisation Changing the balance of State aid control
Northern Ireland State aid Awareness Seminar
16 September 2014
Miek Van der Wee
European Commission
DG Competition

2. SAM – Main drivers
Europe 2020: Targeting EU policies at fostering smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
Economic & financial crisis  Enforcement challenges
Need to modernise rules to protect effectiveness of SA policy (faster decision making, focus on most distortive aid, strengthen economic reasoning, …)
Budgetary constraints: Focus on quality public expenditure
Expiry of SA instruments in 2013 (GBER, guidelines)
New programming cycle for ESI Funds

3. SAM – Main objectives Foster growth in a competitive internal market
Facilitate the granting of “good aid” (Europe 2020)
Discourage ineffective or counter-productive aid
Focus enforcement on cases with biggest impact
Less ex ante control of potentially less distortive aid
Emphasis on ex post monitoring, evaluation & transparency
Streamline rules and speed up decisions
Simplification and harmonisation of rules
Improvement of procedures

4. SAM – Building blocks Notice on notion of aid SAM Principles
Review De Minimis Reg.
SAM Principles
Clarification & simplification
Common compatibility criteria
Strengthened partnership with MS
New Enabling Regulation
New GBER
Review major guidelines
Review Procedural Reg.

5. SAM – Legislative programme - 1
Legal instruments
Procedural Regulation
OJ 31/07/2013
Enabling Regulation
OJ 22/07/2013
De Minimis Regulation
OJ 24/12/2013
General Block Exemption Regulation
OJ 17/06/2014
Broadband guidelines
OJ 26/01/2013
Regional aid guidelines
OJ 23/07/2013
Short term credit
OJ 19/12/2012
Cinema
OJ 15/11/2013
Risk finance
OJ 15/01/2014

6. SAM – Legislative programme - 2
Legal instruments
Airports and airlines
OJ 04/04/2014
Energy & Environment
OJ 28/06/2014
R&D&I
OJ 27/06/2014
Important Projects of Common EU Interest
OJ 20/06/2014
Rescue & restructuring
OJ 31/07/2014
Evaluation (Staff paper)
28/05/2014
Transparency (Communication)
21/05/2014
Notion of aid
For overview of all revised SAM texts: .html

7. Impact 1: Facilitate granting "good aid"
Still to be notified (guidelines/Treaty)
notified (guidelines/Treaty)
GBER extension
(notification & intensity threshold)
GBER extension
Exemption
areas
GBER
extension
(new types and
categories)
Notified aid
Block-exempted
De minimis
(aid amount)
De Minimis
Type of aid

8. Impact 1: Facilitate granting "good aid"
New categories of aid brought under GBER:
Aid to compensate natural disaster damage
Operating aid in remote & in sparsely populated areas
Individual regional aid measures
Aid for urban development projects in assisted regions
Aid for broadband infrastructure
Aid for start-ups, for SME financing, for innovation clusters & research infrastructure
Aid for culture and heritage conservation, for sport and multifunctional recreational facilities
Aid for the remediation of contaminated sites
Aid for renewables and district heating ….

9. Impact 1: Facilitate granting "good aid"
2/3 aid amounts and 3/4 aid measures could be "GBER-ised'
Aid amounts
Aid measures

10. Impact 2: Stricter control of "bad aid"
Assessment of potentially more distortive types of aid on the basis of "common assessment criteria":
contribution to a well-defined objective of common interest
need for state intervention
appropriateness of the aid measure
incentive effect
proportionality of the aid (aid limited to the minimum necessary)
avoidance of undue negative effects on competition and trade between Member States

11. Impact 3: Ex Ante  Ex Post  Transparency
Smaller proportion of aid will be scrutinised by EC
Aid under GBER
Awards under approved aid schemes
Shift from ex ante control to :
Ex Post Evaluation
Ex Post Monitoring
Transparency

12. Impact 3: Ex Post - Evaluation
Purpose:
Improve quality of public expenditure
Scope: Large schemes
Evaluation questions:
Did the aid alter behaviour of beneficiaries?
Were the objectives of the aid achieved?
Independent evaluator
Assessment and approval
Design
Evaluation
Monitoring
Implemen-tation

13. Impact 3: Ex post - Monitoring
Ex Post Monitoring since 2006
221 schemes monitored
28% of monitored schemes found to be problematic
Widening of GBER will be accompanied by increased monitoring efforts

14. Impact 3: Ex Post - Transparency
Purpose:
Improve accountability of public spending
Promote compliance (enables firms to verify legality of aid granted to competitors)
Publication on Central/Regional website of
Full text of aid scheme or aid granting decision
Identity of granting authority
Info on individual aid awards > € 500,000:
Identity of beneficiary, aid amount, date of granting, NUTS 3 region, NACE code

15. Impact 4: New Partnership with MS
Extension of GBER  Increased responsibility for MS
Implementation aid measures without ex ante control by EC
Need to ensure effective control at national level
Strengthen EC-MS partnership
Country Coordinator Network in COMP
High level Country visits  Portfolio approach
Guidance on new rules via share platform ECN-ET
High Level Forum + Working Groups
WG on SAM implementation (GBER, Best Practices…))
WGs on specific topics (EEAG)

16. Thank you Any questions?