On Tuesday 9 July, the European Commission announced that it had opened an in-depth investigation to examine the conformity of €4.99 million in regional aid to the Slovakian company NAJPI a.s. This aid was granted to NAJPI to help it set up a silica sand extraction site in the Slovak region of Trnavský kraj, Západné Slovensko.
The aid was authorised by the Commission in 2017 under the General Block Exemption Regulation.
However, on 9 September 2020, the General Court of the European Union annulled the Commission's decision, noting in particular that there were doubts as to whether NAJPI qualified as a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME).
The in-depth investigation should enable the Commission to clarify NAJPI's status: SME or large enterprise, at the time the aid was granted, and if the conditions set out in the General Block Exemption Regulation, in particular as regards economic hardship, were met. The Commission pointed out that, in this case, NAJPI would not qualify for regional aid.
Finally, the Commission also indicated that, if it were to conclude that the Slovak aid did not qualify for exemption under the General Block Exemption Regulation, it would assess whether the conditions of the Guidelines on national regional aid for 2007-2013 were met. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)