On Wednesday 21 September, the European Commission adopted five state aid decisions that will serve as examples for public aid that countries can provide with prior authorisation.
The Commission says that the ban on aid that creates an uneven playing field only applies to measures likely to impact on trade between member states.
When the beneficiary of state aid provides goods or services in a limited geographical area within a member state and is not likely to attract clients from other member states, intra-EU trade is not in danger of being affected.
Such a measure would therefore not be state aid, as long as it would not have any predictable effect or only negligible effects on transnational investment in the sector in question or on the establishment of companies within the single market.
The decisions issued on Wednesday cover public financing that Spain is planning for microentreprises in the media sector, particularly the written media, along with separate aid for written and digital media in the language of Valencia. Spanish aid for building a centre providing aid for the elderly in the town of Tomar is also exempt from the requirement of receiving authorisation from the European Commission, as are German plans to provide aid for building a number of sports venues in part of Bavaria, and renovation and modernisation of infrastructure at the port of Föhr. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)