Transparency and Evaluation procedures

Transparency

Check the page on Aid beneficiaries.

Evaluation

Following the State aid modernisation exercise, the Commission is required to conduct evaluations for a selection of aid schemes, both under the General Block Exemption Regulation, when the scheme's annual aid budget exceeds EUR 150 million, and different State aid guidelines.

The evaluations conducted under State aid rules will provide evidence on both the direct impact of the aid on its beneficiaries and on its indirect impacts, positive and negative, as well as on the proportionality and appropriateness of the aid measure.

An evaluation plan, taking into account the Common methodology for State aid evaluation published in May 2014, should be drafted by the Member State concerned and notified (.zip file) to the Commission for approval. The evaluations must be carried out by independent experts and their results made public.

The results of the evaluations will be taken into account when designing new aid schemes or when prolonging existing schemes. Ultimately, the body of State aid evaluations will contribute to better policy-making by both the Commission and the Member States.

Useful information

• Competition Policy Brief (June 2014) presenting State aid evaluation
• Competition Policy Brief (May 2016) on the role of evaluation to improve support to business R&D&I
• Workshop organised by BRUEGEL in May 2016 “State Aid evaluation: two years of implementation”

Relevant decisions (as of September 2016)