EU Member States devoted 90% of their State aid in 2024 to supporting EU priorities, according to the ‘State Aid Scoreboard 2025’, published on Thursday 15 January by the European Commission.
More specifically, the EU27 devoted €168.23 billion, or 0.94% of their 2024 GDP, for State aid. The remaining 10% was earmarked for emergency aid linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, Member States have continued to reduce their spending overall, the report states, which stood at €203.35 billion in 2023. And although the allocation of funds to support EU priorities remains a key issue, “it has not returned to its pre-crisis levels”. The spending gap between Member States has also narrowed, “from spending of 2.89 to 0.40% of national GDP in 2023 to a range of 1.37 to 0.40% in 2024”.
Despite this, Member States have allocated more funds to support key EU priorities, such as “environmental protection, energy, research, development and innovation and regional development”, according to a press release.
In 2024, environmental protection and energy savings accounted for €68.82 billion, or 45% of total State aid earmarked for EU priorities.
Of this total, State aid for decarbonisation efforts amounted to €30.45 billion. Aid for energy production and infrastructure modernisation totalled €27.31 billion.
State aid for research, development and innovation totalled €14.16 billion, while Member States granted €13.42 billion in regional development aid.
The expenditure for important projects of common European interest (IPCEIs) was €2.62 billion. State aid also contributed €4.59 billion to the rollout of broadband.
Agriculture. Aid for agriculture, forestry and rural areas totalled €10.43 billion, while fisheries and aquaculture received €212.87 million in 2024.
The Commission adds that measures covered by the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) comprised 69% of all active State aid measures.
Total spending on emergency aid, meanwhile, fell sharply, to €16.33 billion - 67% less than in 2023. They were mainly devoted to mitigating the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Germany, the biggest spender. In absolute terms, Germany was the country with the highest State aid expenditure in 2024, with €41.37 billion, around 25% of total expenditure in the EU27. France and Italy follow in second and third place.
Smaller economies, such as Malta, Cyprus and Latvia, had the lowest nominal expenditure, reflecting their smaller economic size. And Hungary and Romania are the countries that spend the most in relation to their GDP.
Link to the Scoreboard: https://aeur.eu/f/k9g (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)