Brussels, 16/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 16 September 2011, the European Commission published detailed draft legislation on state aid for services of general economic interest (SGEI), to be unveiled by February 2012 once stakeholders have been consulted (Member States, local authorities, business and consumers).
The general thread of the proposals had already been set out on several occasions (see EUROPE 10370 and 10379). They amend the three items of 2005 'Monti-Kroes' legislation that expires in November 2011 and set out rules for controlling aid provided by the public authorities to companies supplying services of genreeal economic interest like utilities, waste collection, postal services, healthcare and transport, areas where state and private companies exist side-by-side. The rules set limits to aid, beyond which it must be notification to the European Commission, and details of exemptions to the notification requirement.
The new proposals aim to simplify the rules and make them more flexible and better suited to the situation on the ground. The new rules provide for greater numbers of exemptions from the notification requirement for the supply of services on a small, often local, scale and for specific services (hospital and local social services) which have little impact on competition in the Single Market. The upper limit for exception from the notification requirement is EUR 150,000 per tax year.
The proposals explain in more detail and tighten up the prior cost assessment criteria for commercial services on a large scale which have an impact on cross-border competition, services like energy, water and financial services. Prices must be decided in detail in advance in order to ensure that payment for a service does not favour the company which has signed the contract any more than its competitors. Companies will be encouraged to become more efficient by drawing up criteria in advance to measure efficiency savings. The proposals can be found at http://www.ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/sgei.html . (FG/transl.fl)