On Tuesday 9 April, the European Commission published the 2023 State aid Scoreboard for State aid expenditure in 2022, based on reports provided by the Member States.
In particular, the Commission has identified a 34.8% reduction in public spending in 2022 compared with 2021. In 2022, States spent €228 billion on State aid, or 1.4% of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP), compared with €349.7 billion in 2021.
For the Commission, this reduction in spending in 2022 is mainly driven by the gradual phasing out of economic support measures adopted in relation to the Covid 19 pandemic.
In addition, total spending by Member States on public support measures related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine under the Temporary Crisis Framework to counterbalance the negative economic effects of the war in Ukraine amounted to €39.33 billion in 2022 (17% of total State aid expenditure and 0.25% of EU GDP).
In particular, the Commission notes a reduction in the gap between State aid expenditures in the various Member States compared with 2021, although this gap remains significant. The report indicates that this expenditure represented between 2.1% and 0.3% of national GDP in 2022. In 2021, this expenditure was between 4.6% and 0.9% of national GDP.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/bo4 (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)