State aid: Commission invites comments on simplified rules for State aid combined with EU support

News article |

The European Commission is inviting Member States and other stakeholders to comment on its proposal to exempt from prior Commission scrutiny under EU State aid rules, aid granted through national funds for projects supported under certain EU centrally managed programmes.

The Commission has launched a first public consultation on a targeted review of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), in order to extend its application, under a limited set of conditions, to national funds involved in the following three areas:

  1. Financing and investment operations supported by the InvestEU Fund;
  2. Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) projects having received a “Seal of Excellence” under Horizon Europe, as well as projects under the future Co-fund programme;
  3. European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) projects, known as Interreg policy.

The public consultation seeks the views of the relevant stakeholders (including Member States) on the proposed revision of the GBER. Stakeholders are invited to submit comments by 27 September 2019.