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Law
Competition Policy

Transparency and Evaluation procedures

The EU rules require that aid given to companies be transparent. Transparency means giving market participants relevant information about those public interventions that might have potentially distortive effects on competition and on intra-EU trade, i.e. government aid that confers selective advantages to companies.

Specific transparency provisions were introduced in 2014 requiring granting authorities at all levels to provide information about big individual aid awards. On 1 July 2016, those transparency requirements for state aid became mandatory.

The state aid transparency public search gives access to state aid individual award data provided by Member States in compliance with the European transparency requirements for state aid. Citizens and companies can easily access information about awarded aid: name of the beneficiary, amount of aid, location, sector, and objective.

Policy briefs and other relevant information

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

 

Relevant decisions (as of September 2016)

Case Number

Member State

Title

SA.39273

United Kingdom

Regional Growth Fund (RGF)- evaluation plan

SA.38751

Czech Republic

Evaluation plan for the scheme "Investment incentives"

SA.39669

Hungary

Evaluation plan - Development Tax Benefit

SA.39460

Germany

Evaluation plan for the block exempted large aid scheme "Bund-Länder-Gemeinschaftsaufgabe Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur - Gewerbliche Wirtschaft"

SA.40523

Poland

Evaluation plan Polish SEZ scheme

SA.40391

France

Régime cadre RDI 2014-2020 - plan d'évaluation

SA.40324

Spain

Evaluation Plan of the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology R&D Aid Scheme

SA.40761

United Kingdom

Innovate UK 2014 - Evaluation plan

SA.40098

Finland

Evaluation plan- Aid scheme for funding of research and development projects

SA.40266

France

Régime d'aides de l'ADEME - plan d'évaluation

SA.42136

Portugal

Evaluation Plan: Inovação Empresarial

SA.41549

France

Evaluation plan for the DOM investment scheme "Aide fiscale à l'investissement outre-mer (investissements productifs)"

SA.41471

Poland

National Research and Development Centre - evaluation plan

SA.41386

United Kingdom

SME R&D Tax Credits - evaluation plan

SA.41884

Germany

Evaluierungsplan ZIM

SA.43142

Poland

Evaluation plan for "Regional investment aid scheme for the competitiveness of SMEs under the regional programme 2014-2020"

SA.40991

United Kingdom

Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trust scheme

SA.41175

Austria

Broadband Austria 2020

SA.43484

Poland

Evaluation plan for broadband infrastructure Digital Poland 2014-2020

SA.44400

France

Régime ISF PME - Plan d'évaluation

SA.40720

United Kingdom

National Broadband Scheme for the UK for 2016-2020

SA.41647

Italy

Strategia Banda Ultra Larga