On Tuesday 27 August, the European Commission launched a call for evidence to gather information on the scope and content of its revision of the 2014 guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines.
The aviation guidelines define the conditions under which Member States and local authorities may grant State aid to airports and airlines. The aim of the call for evidence is to gather facts and evidence on how this framework is working and to assess the extent to which the guidelines may or may not need to be amended or revised.
In this way, the Commission hopes to analyse how the aviation market has evolved since the adoption of the guidelines, the needs of the sector and its decision-making practice. It also wishes to assess whether the guidelines should be updated and simplified to reduce administrative burden and improve Member States’ compliance with the rules. It also wants to assess how these guidelines could be better aligned with the priorities of the ‘Green Deal’ for Europe.
Finally, the aviation guidelines may also not reflect changes in the nature of competition between airlines and the impact of these changes on competition between airports, in particular the impact on the notion of catchment area.
The call for evidence runs until Tuesday 8 October. The Commission will prepare a public consultation planned for the third quarter of 2024.
Further information: https://aeur.eu/f/d8b (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)