On Friday 22 January, the European Commission approved a €12 billion German ‘umbrella scheme’ (the final part of the Novemberhilfe package) to compensate companies for damage suffered as a result of the restrictive measures taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President responsible for Competition Policy, the scheme “complements already approved schemes enabling support of up to €4 million per company as part of the Novemberhilfe package”.
Under the scheme, companies from all sectors will be entitled to compensation for damages suffered during the lockdown periods imposed by the German government in March/April and November/December 2020.
The compensation, in the form of direct grants, covers either up to 100% of the actual damage incurred during the lockdown periods, or 75 % of the turnover in the reference months of November and December 2019, whichever amount is lower.
The Commission assessed the measure under Article 107(2)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which enables the Commission to approve State aid measures granted by Member States to compensate specific companies or sectors (in the form of schemes) for damage directly caused by exceptional occurrences. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)