Brussels, 23/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - At its plenary session in Brussels on 16 and 17 November, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) made a few changes to the opinion by Gabor Bihary (PES), member of the General Assembly of Budapest, on "The Action Plan in the Field of State Aid". The Committee criticises the quantitative approach and notion of "market shortcomings" proposed by the Commission, as it feels that the emphasis should not be laid "solely on a quantitative reduction in State aid, without at the same time drawing a distinction between types of State aid and their respective advantages", and that the notion of "market shortcomings" is neither based on the EC Treaty nor clearly defined, and should on no account become the principal criterion for aid to be granted. Furthermore, the Committee defends financial aid granted by the local authorities to businesses carrying out public service missions and calls for local and regional authorities to be consulted when independent bodies to monitor State aid are set up at national level. The Committee also calls for the creation of a network of national and regional authorities competent in matters of State aid, in order to ensure permanent distribution of information and exchange of best practice.