The 2017 state aid scoreboard, which was published by the European Commission on Tuesday 16 January, flags up the positive effects of the modernisation of state aid policy in recent years.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, announced that more than 97% of new aid measures were paid out without prior Commission authorisation, under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), the new rules which came in between 2014 and 2017. Under this text, member states are no longer required to notify the Commission prior to implementing measures that are the least harmful to competition, in other words most of them. Conversely, measures with a greater impact on competition, or the single market, are subject to a more in-depth examination by the institution.
On the basis of data supplied by the authorities of the member states on aid to industry, services, agriculture and fisheries, the Commission shows that the implementation of the GBER has led to a very significant increase in state aid spending in several areas, such as broadband and local mixed-use recreational infrastructure (+99% compared to 2013), as well as research, development and innovation (+89%).
The scoreboard also highlights a faster implementation of state aid measures, with the average time taken having fallen by 20% compared to 2013.
The report furthermore notes that €105.9 billion was allocated under State aid in 2016, or 0.71% of EU GDP. Nearly 53% of this total was earmarked for measures in favour of the environment and energy savings. Finally, state aid to the financial sector in 2016 stood at its lowest level since the beginning of the economic crisis. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)