On Thursday 20 April, in Strasbourg, MEP Younous Omarjee (The Left, French) called for “bonuses” in the State aid rules for less developed or isolated areas, such as islands and outermost regions.
A debate took place in the European Parliament on the EU cohesion dimension of State aid and the de minimis rules.
According to the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development, Mr Omarjee, State aid rules should consider the very different situations in Europe’s regions and territorial inequalities, in line with Article 174 of the EU Treaty. He advocated “higher aid intensities and maximum aid amounts and wider eligible costs, depending on the level of development of the territories and their geographical specificities”.
The European Commission has indicated that revising the relevant de minimis regulation is underway. “Without prejudging its outcome, the Commission is, however, generally not in favour of different de minimis aid thresholds depending on the regions”, the institution replied.
Other legal bases for State aid exist and the Commission explained that the General Block Exemption Regulation and the Regional Aid Guidelines “offer many possibilities for targeted support to the European Union’s outermost regions, transition regions and least favoured regions”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)