Brussels, 12/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 11 March, the European Commission approved the regional aid maps for Slovenia, Hungary and Germany for the granting of regional aid in 2014-2020, within the framework of the new regional aid guidelines adopted by the Commission in June 2013 that lay down eligibility criteria for state aid for the economic development of a number of regions. The regions in Germany's aid map cover 25.85% of its population (in other words, 21.1 million inhabitants). Under the regional guidelines, areas which have a GDP per capital below 75% of the EU average are eligible in priority for regional investment aid, as the main purpose of regional aid is to foster the development of the less advantaged regions of Europe. While for the period 2007-13, almost the entire territory of the German new Länder (following the reunification of Germany) fell within this category, none of the German regions qualify for this status for the 2014-2020 period. In order to ensure a smooth transition, these areas will continue to be eligible until 2020 and the maximum aid intensities applicable in these regions will be reduced by the end of 2017. The maximum regional investment aid intensity has been reduced by between 5 and 15 percentage points per region compared with the previous map. For Slovenia, the overall aid intensity has been reduced by between 5 and 30 percentage points, but the same number of inhabitants are still covered. The aid map for Hungary covers 7.6 million inhabitants (in other words, 76.71% of the population). The central Hungarian region has developed over the past seven years and the number of people covered has fallen, although the aid intensity remains much the same, varying by 5 percentage points up or down for the other regions. (EL)