13 July 2012

State aid: Commission consults on reform of procedures

In the context of the State Aid Modernisation (SAM) initiative, the Commission is inviting comments on the application of procedural rules in state aid investigations. Comments are requested by 5 October, 2012.

The Commission proposes to clarify and simplify the current regime, laid down in a Council Regulation, in particular with regard to the handling of complaints and the collection of market information.

These changes should allow the Commission to focus its control on state aid cases that could give rise to the most significant distortions of competition in the Internal Market. Replies to the public consultation should be submitted by 5 October, 2012 to Stateaidgreffe@ec.europa.eu. In light of the comments received, the Commission will propose a revised regulation by December 2012 that will then be submitted to the EU Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers.

The state aid Procedural Regulation lays down detailed rules of procedure for state aid investigations. Its revision is one of the building blocks of the Commission's state aid modernisation package (SAM) adopted in May 2012. SAM identified two priority areas for the modernisation of state aid procedures, namely the handling of complaints and the collection of market information. The consultation therefore mainly aims at collecting the views of stakeholders on these two aspects.

Based on its experience in applying these rules and the conclusions drawn from the application of the state aid Best Practices Code, the Commission considers it should be able to set priorities for handling complaints, in order to focus its work on cases with a potentially high impact on competition and trade in the Internal Market. To investigate such cases effectively, the Commission also needs efficient tools to obtain the necessary information from market participants in good time, so as to deliver decisions within business-relevant timelines. The changes envisaged would also allow the Commission to launch more investigations on its own initiative in areas where significant distortions of competition threaten to hamper the functioning of the Internal Market. Moreover, they would enable the Commission to ascertain better how public support measures affect the markets concerned, thus accelerating the decision-making process.

Press release

See also State aid: Commission invites comments on use of state aid rules for supporting risk capital investments, 16 July 2012

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