Brussels, 20/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted the State aid scoreboard for the year 2002. The document reveals that the total amount of aid granted that year by the Fifteen amounted to EUR 49 billion. Germany granted the most aid (13 billion) in 2002, followed by France (10 billion) and Italy (6 billion). This latest edition of the scoreboard confirms that most Member States are reducing the share of their aid in the GDP and redirecting the aid to across-board targets of common interest, such as strengthened economic and social cohesion, protection of the environment, promotion of research and development, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. On the other hand, the Commission notes, some Member States continue to provide aid that is particularly harmful for competition, such as aid to the rescue and restructuring of companies. EUROPE will come back to this.