Brussel keurt regels voor staatssteun in Duitsland en 12 andere EU-lidstaten goed - Vraag en antwoord (en)

The European Commission has approved under EC Treaty state aid rules the regional aid map covering the period 2007-2013 for Germany (see IP/06/1528). This regional aid map is approved by the Commission under the new Regional Aid Guidelines (see IP/05/1653 and MEMO/05/491). This decisions forms part of a wider exercise to review regional aid systems in all Member States. The maps of twelve other Member States have already been approved by the Commission (Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Malta, Czech Republic, Ireland and Lithuania - see IP/06/1176, IP/06/1393 and IP/06/1451).

What is regional aid?

Regional aid is defined in Article 87(3)(a) and (c) of the EC Treaty as state aid granted by Member States to promote the economic development of certain disadvantaged areas within the EU. It consists mostly in investment aid to large companies, targeted on specific regions in order to redress regional disparities. Increased levels of investment aid, granted to SME located in disadvantaged regions are also considered as regional aid.

What is a regional aid map?

A regional aid map defines the regions of a Member State which are eligible for regional aid and establishes the maximum permitted levels of such aid in the eligible regions. These regions are known as "assisted regions". The adoption of a regional aid map is a pre-condition for a Member State to grant regional aid. The current maps have been designed for the period 1999-2006 and will expire on 31/12/2006. Member States have to notify their new maps, based on the new regional aid guidelines adopted in December 2005, to the Commission sufficiently early to be approved before the new planning period starts on 1/1/2007.

What's the proportion of assisted areas in the EU?

In the light of the exceptional character of state aid, there must be substantially less assisted regions in the EU than there are unassisted regions. Moreover, given the European Council's repeated calls for less state aid and the widely shared concerns about the distortive effects of investment aid for large companies, the Commission has fixed the overall population coverage to 42% of the current 25 Member States' total population.

What are the criteria for qualifying as assisted area?

Article 87(3)(a) of the EC Treaty provides that aid to promote the economic development of areas where the standard of living is abnormally low or where there is serious underemployment may be considered compatible with the Single Market. This derogation concerns only areas, where the economic situation is extremely unfavourable in relation to the EU as a whole, that is, according to the regional aid guidelines, mainly regions with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of less than 75% of the EU average and the EU's outermost regions. In addition, for regions whose GDP per capita exceeds 75% of the EU average only since the 2004 enlargement, a transitional period is foreseen until end 2010.

Article 87(3)(c) of the EC Treaty is wider in scope and allows regional development aid, provided it does not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest. This derogation concerns areas which are disadvantaged in relation to the national average. As the regional handicap of these areas is smaller, both the geographic scope of the exception and the aid intensity allowed are lower than for regions targeted by Art. 87(3)(a). To determine the scope, the Commission assigns a population ceiling to each Member State, taking into account, among others, population density, unemployment and GDP per capita. Within this ceiling, the Member States then select their eligible regions according to objective criteria set out in the regional aid guidelines. These include GDP per capita, population density, geographical situation, etc.

Germany

The following table gives an overview of the eligible population of the regional state aid map for Germany. For the German regions under Article 87(3)(a) of the EC Treaty a maximum aid intensity of 30% applies. For the German regions under Article 87(3)(c) of the EC Treaty a maximum aid intensity of 10, 15 or 20% applies.

The following map gives an overview of the eligible areas in Germany: