Reducing the Red Tape?
the effects of state aid modernisation on municipalitiesReducing the Red Tape?
the effects of state aid modernisation on municipalitiesSamenvatting
In summary, state aid exists of government measures that provide a financial benefit to one or more undertakings or a certain industry, with the potential to distort competition or affect trade between MSs within the EU. The rules for state aid are laid down in Art. 107, 108 and 109 TFEU and the different Regulations and Guidelines. In principle, state aid is prohibited, as it is considered to be incompatible with the internal market. However, Art. 107 TFEU provides many exemptions, which allows municipalities to grant aid measures.
The Procedural Regulation sets out the procedures for notifying an aid measure and the granting of unlawful aid. With the Enabling Regulation, the Council has given the EC the power to adopt
regulations to declare certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market and allows the EC to adopt a regulation on de minimis aid, which means that aid can be granted to the same undertaking over a period of time which does not exceed a certain amount of money.
With the modernisation of state aid control the EC wants to focus on the most distortive aid and wants to simplify the procedures. With the revised Procedural Regulation, the EC wants to limit the amount of requests for information MSs receive when a complaint is lodged, it wants to deal with groundless complaints rapidly, it wants to inform complainants, MSs and other interested parties frequently about the progress and result of the examination and it wants to improve the efficiency and reliability of the gathering of information. With the revised Enabling Regulation, the list of group exemptions will be extended. Regarding de minimis aid, the EC wants to
introduce a central register for every MSs with all the data of de minimis aid granted. The threshold for de minimis aid will remain at € 200.000,-.
Regarding the Procedural Regulation, a frequently heard disadvantage is the amount of time it takes for local authorities to deal with a complaint. In addition, SMEs often do not use the complaint form which makes it difficult for municipalities to respond. Therefore, a simplified complaints procedure and the EC focussing on the most distortive cases would be convenient. In addition, gathering market information and not dealing with complaints forms that are not filled in properly, will reduce the workload for municipalities. An extension of the group exemptions is very useful in reducing the administrative burden for municipalities and in particular the group
exemption for culture, as municipalities grant a lot of aid for culture which usually does not distort competition. However, a group exemption for social, educational, health and small
amounts of ad hoc aid to large enterprises could be implemented as well. The biggest disadvantage of the revised de minimis Regulation is the obligatory central register, as it obliges municipalities to report all data to the EC when the register is not public.
Reducing the Red Tape? Evelien den Boer The Effects of State Aid Modernisation on Municipalities The Hague School of European Studies 3
To conclude, by streamlining the complaints procedure, gathering market information, strengthening the role of the national courts, exempting more categories from prior notification and setting up a central register, the EC should be able to focus on the most distortive state aid cases in order to reduce the administrative burden for all interested parties. It can be concluded that the revised complaints procedure is more efficient and will lead to more transparency, less uncertainty, a decrease of the workload and less time-consuming bureaucracy. The EC cooperating more with national courts mean a more rapid process when a complaint has been lodged. However, the obligation to set up a central register for de minimis aid cannot be considered as a tool to diminish the administrative burden. When the data will not be public, municipalities are obliged to report to the EC on an annual basis.
Organisatie | De Haagse Hogeschool |
Opleiding | ESC Europese Studies / European Studies |
Afdeling | Academie voor European Studies & Communication |
Jaar | 2013 |
Type | Bachelor |
Taal | Engels |