The European Commission has today launched a Call for Evidence and public consultation to seek input on the scope and content of its review of the General Block Exemption Regulation (‘GBER’). The aim of the review is to reduce red tape for businesses as well as for Member States, and facilitate necessary support for industry. At the same time, EU State aid rules should continue protecting the level playing field within the EU.
Interested parties can reply to the questionnaire available here, until 6 October.
The GBER review
The GBER declares specific categories of State aid compatible with the internal market if they fulfil certain conditions, and exempts them from the requirement of prior notification to, and approval by the Commission. This enables Member States to quickly provide aid, where conditions limiting the distortion of competition in the Single Market are met.
The GBER entered into force in 2014. Since then, it has become the most important part of EU State aid rules. In 2023, Member States implemented 69% of all non-crisis aid measures under the GBER, for example aid for research and innovation, broadband connectivity, energy efficiency or for SMEs and start-ups.
Over time, the Commission has kept the GBER up to date. The most recent amendment, in 2023, gave Member States more flexibility to support sectors that are key for the transition to climate neutrality and to a net-zero industry.
In an effort to stay up to date, the Commission is assessing the potential to further simplify and update the GBER, in line with the EU’s Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal. The purpose of the Call for Evidence and the public consultation is to collect information and stakeholder views on the application and interpretation of the GBER. Feedback will help the Commission to explore the scope to reduce the administrative burden for businesses, harmonise State aid rules and speed up the assessment of aid measures. The aim is to make it easier for all businesses, but in particular for SMEs, to access support.
The deadline to reply to the questionnaire is 6 October.
More information and next steps
The Commission will analyse the responses to the public consultation and publish a summary of the main points and conclusions on the Commission’s ‘Have Your Say’ portal. The Commission will also publish the contributions in the language in which they were submitted.
Background
Article 108(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (‘TFEU’) requires Member States to notify all State aid to the Commission and to implement it only after the Commission’s approval. With the Enabling Regulation, the Council allows the Commission to declare that certain categories of State aid are compatible with the Single Market and exempted from the notification obligation provided for in the TFEU.
On this basis, the GBER allows Member States to implement certain aid measures directly, and exempts them from the requirement of prior notification to the Commission, provided that the aid meets the general as well as the applicable specific conditions of the GBER. This is in line with the Commission’s approach to focus on delivering more and faster, while doing less where it does not have an added value.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1814