Brussels, 20/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 December, the European Commission adopted a revised package of EU state aid rules for the assessment of public compensation for services of general economic interest (SGEI) in the form of four items of draft legislation covering all public authorities, be they national, regional or local. The new rules, which replace the so-called “Monti-Kroes” package of July 2005, clarify basic notions such as “economic activity” to facilitate the application of the rules by national but also regional or local governments.
The new package clarifies key state aid principles and introduces a diversified and proportionate approach with simpler rules for SGEIs that are “small, local in scope or pursue a social objective, while better taking account of competition considerations for large cases”, the Commission explains. Where possible, it is keen to shorten investigations so it can carry out more investigations on its own initiative.
A new draft de minimis regulation, providing for compensation below a certain threshold (€500,000) not to fall under state aid scrutiny, is expected to be adopted in the spring of 2012, after a final round of consultation. A revised decision exempts member states from the obligation to notify public service compensation for certain SGEI categories to the Commission. The exemption is extended from hospitals and social housing to a much wider range of social services (healthcare, old aged people's homes, childcare, social housing, jobs centres and the like) and a lower compensation threshold applies for triggering notifications for other SGEI activities. The notification threshold was lowered from €30 million to €15 million, taking account of stakeholders' concerns that the previous ceiling withdrew very sizeable contracts in important areas of the internal market from the Commission's scrutiny. Joaquin Almunia pointed out, however, that the services that no longer have to be notified will still have to be properly managed not create an uneven playing field. The Commission reserves the right to investigate complaints.
Along with a new communication, clarifying basic concepts of state aid, which are relevant for SGEI, such as the notions of aid, SGEI, economic activity, convergence between public procurement procedures and absence of aid, etc, there is a revised framework for assessing large compensation amounts granted to operators outside the social services field. The new rules introduce a more precise methodology to determine the amount of compensation, a requirement for member states to introduce efficiency incentives in compensation mechanisms, the requirement to comply with EU public procurement rules and equal treatment of providers of the same service for determining compensation. Moreover, the Commission may require member states to adopt measures to reduce the anti-competitive effects of compensation. (FG/transl.fl)