Brussels, 04/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 4 December, the European Commission decided to launch an in-depth investigation into tax exemptions given to certain Belgian companies. In 2006, the Commission approved a support scheme for research and development (R&D) that exempted certain innovative companies (“Young Innovative Companies”) from paying payroll tax on part of the remuneration paid to their scientific personnel. Belgium had pledged to incorporate into its national legislation the definitions of the types of research eligible for tax breaks under European rules on state aid for research, development and innovation. During a screening exercise started in 2011 the Commission found that Belgium had not introduced these definitions until 2013, seven years after the scheme began. Providing tax breaks to innovative companies without these definitions does not allow aid to be targeted on the R&D objective that justifies its granting and guarantees that distortion of competition can be limited. The aid granted would therefore appear to have conferred an undue advantage on the beneficiary companies, which is contrary to the state aid rules on R&D&I. At this point in the investigation, Belgium has not provided sufficient information to dispel the Commission's doubts.
In another case, Bulgarian plans to allocate €945 million worth of carbon emission trading allowances free of charge to modernise the electricity sector are in line with EU stated aid rules, because they will help achieve the EUROPE 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets without unduly distorting competition in the internal market. The Commission also gave the go-ahead to: - state aid in Germany for an online medical platform in eastern Saxony; - aid of £21 million sterling for UK aerospace company SSTL for a low-cost radar system; €21.3 million in aid in France for SOITEC, an international company that makes semi-conductors for the electronics and energy industries, for the GUÉPARD R&D project to develop new concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology. (LC/OL/transl.fl)