Commission adopts new general rules for small amounts of State aid and for services of general economic interest

The European Commission has today adopted two regulations amending the general rules for small amounts of aid (de minimis Regulation) and for small amounts of aid for Services of General Economic interest, such as public transport and healthcare (SGEI de minimis Regulation). The revised regulations, which exempt small aid amounts from EU State aid control since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market, will enter into force on 1 January 2024 and will apply until 31 December 2030.

The amendments to the de minimis regulations

The current de minimis Regulation exempts small amounts of aid since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market. The amendments adopted today include the following main changes:

• The increase in the ceiling per company from €200,000 (applicable since 2008) to €300,000 over three years, in order to cater for inflation.
• The introduction of an obligation for Member States to register de minimis aid in a central register set at national or EU level as of 1 January 2026, thereby reducing the reporting obligations for companies.
• The introduction of safe harbours for financial intermediaries to further facilitate aid in the form of loans and guarantees, no longer requiring a complete pass on of the advantages from the financial intermediaries to the end beneficiaries.

The current SGEI de minimis Regulation sets a minimum compensation amount for providers of SGEIs below which compensation is deemed free of aid and exempted from EU State aid rules. The amendments adopted today include the following main changes:

• The increase of the ceiling per company from €500,000 (applicable since 2012) to €750,000 over three years, in order to cater for inflation.
• The introduction of an obligation for Member States to register de minimis aid in a central register set at national or EU level as of 1 January 2026, thereby reducing the reporting obligations for companies.

Background

Article 108(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires Member States to notify all State aid to the European Commission and to implement it only after the Commission's approval. The EU State aid Enabling Regulation 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 Treaty.

The de minimis Regulation is set to expire on 31 December 2023. In line with the outcome of the 2020  fitness check of State aid rules, in June 2022 the Commission published a ‘call for evidence' inviting all interested parties to provide feedback on the proposed review of these rules. In November 2022, the Commission consulted  on the revised draft Regulation, it received 101 contributions.

The SGEI de minimis Regulation is also set to expire on 31 December 2023. Following the Commission's evaluation of the SGEI rules applicable to health and social services and to small amounts of aid in December 2022, the Commission published a ‘call for evidence' seeking feedback from all interested parties on the proposed review of the  SGEI de minimis Regulation. In April 2023, the Commission consulted  on the revised draft Regulation, it received 43 contributions.