The European Commission launched on Thursday 23 July a public consultation on the regional aid guidelines, which will be open to all stakeholders (citizens, organisations, companies and public authorities) until 30 September 2020.
As a reminder, in 2019, the Commission launched an evaluation of the regional aid framework as part of the ‘fitness check’ of the 2012 State aid modernisation package. In particular, the institution had decided to extend the validity of the current guidelines through the end of 2021 to ensure maximum legal predictability and certainty during the review process.
The preliminary results of the ‘fitness check’ have been quite positive, explains the institution, acknowledging, however, the need for some improvements, including a number of adjustments to simplify procedures. In addition, the draft revised guidelines seek to respond to new policy priorities related to the European Green Deal, industrial strategy and the digital transition.
In addition to the stakeholder consultation launched today, the text of the regional aid guidelines will be discussed at a meeting between the Commission and Member States towards the end of the consultation period.
The adoption of the new guidelines proper is scheduled for early 2021. Here, the objective is to give Member States sufficient time to prepare and notify their regional aid maps which should enter into force in 2022.
To see the public consultation: https://bit.ly/2WPkmQH (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)