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Law
Competition Policy

State aid – review of rules on exemptions for small amounts of aid to services of general economic interest

Policy field

Competition: State aid

 

Target group

Institutions, public authorities, citizens, companies and organisations are welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from national authorities dealing with measures covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 360/2012 of 25 April 2012 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid granted to undertakings providing services of general economic interest (‘SGEI de minimis Regulation’).

 

Period of consultation

From 19.04.2023 to 01.06.2023

 

Objective of the consultation

Current de minimis State aid rules for services of general economic interest (“SGEI”) allow exemptions from State aid control for small aid amounts – up to EUR 500 000 – as they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the single market. These rules are set to expire on 31 December 2023. The evaluation on State subsidy rules for health and social services of general economic interest and of the SGEI de minimis Regulation showed that the SGEI de minimis Regulation has overall been fit for purpose. The Commission regularly reviews State aid rules and adapts them to the internal market's dynamics.

In this context, the Commission proposes to revise the SGEI de minimis threshold to adapt it to the current economic context, to align certain concepts with the general de minimis Regulation (currently under revision as well) and to improve transparency requirements. These changes are translated into the text of the proposed Regulation, which is subject to the present public consultation.

The Commission regularly reviews State aid rules and adapts them to the internal market's dynamics. The Commission published a ‘call for evidence’ on the SGEI de minimis Regulation on the Better Regulation Portal and received 28 contributions for the period from 12 December 2022 to 9 January 2023.

 

How to submit your contribution

We welcome contributions from citizens, organisations and public authorities.

  • If you are answering this consultation as a citizen, please click here to submit your contribution.
  • If you are answering this consultation on behalf of an organisation, please click here to submit your contribution.
  • If you are answering this consultation on behalf of a public authority, please click here to submit your contribution.

Received contributions will be published on this webpage. Submissions that are clearly marked "confidential" will be treated as such and not published. In that case please also provide a non-confidential version of your reply. It is important to read the privacy statement attached to this consultation for information on how your personal data and contribution will be dealt with.

When providing us with the documents requested above, please ensure that redactions made by you properly cover all confidential information and cannot be reversed.

Please note that we cannot guarantee to take account of replies received after the deadline.
We would appreciate receiving documents in an electronic format.

 

Consultation document  / Questionnaire

 

Reference documents and other, related consultations

 

Results of the public consultation

All non-confidential replies to the consultation are available here.

 

Contact details

Responsible service:

Directorate-General for Competition, Unit F3 – State aid: post & other services
Please always indicate the reference number in your correspondence: Ref.: HT.6507

e-mail:  COMP-F3-PUBLIC-CONSULTATIONatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMP-F3-PUBLIC-CONSULTATION[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Postal address:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition, Unit F.3
State aid registry
1049 Brussels
Belgique /België
Ref.: HT.6507

 

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