Brussels, 27/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has adopted the significantly amended report by Philippe Herzog (United Left, France) on the level of State Aid in 2001 by a majority (164 votes for, 163 against and 7 abstentions). The EP is therefore giving its approval to the European Commission objective to reduce the level of State Aid, which stood at EUR 82 billion throughout the EU in 2000. MEPs particularly stressed the potentially harmful role that State Aid can play by inciting companies to grant subsidies without any added value. The Commission's indicative scoreboard was well received and demonstrates that most aid goes to the transport sector, particularly the railways. The EP has requested, however, additional information from the Commission for making an efficient comparative analysis on the impact of State Aid. It also sought clarification of the rules on "services of general interest" and asked for co-decision to be applied to the basic rules on State Aid.