General Block Exemption Regulation

KEY POINTS

Scope

• The regulation covers the following aid categories:
  • regional aid;
  • aid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
  • national, regional and local projects between different Member States (European Territorial Cooperation);
  • aid for access to finance for SMEs;
  • aid for research and development and innovation;
  • training aid;
  • aid for recruitment and employment of disadvantaged workers and those with disabilities;
  • aid for environmental protection;
  • aid to make good the damage caused by natural disasters;
  • aid for transport for residents of remote regions;
  • aid for broadband infrastructure;
  • aid for culture and heritage conservation;
  • aid for sport and multi-use recreational infrastructures;
  • aid for local infrastructures;
  • aid for regional airports;
  • aid for ports;
  • aid involved in financial products supported by the InvestEU Fund¹.
• It excludes from the GBER, while allowing specific exemptions, certain aid schemes providing public financial support for:
  • various regional, fishery, aquaculture and agriculture programmes, along with aid for the closure of uncompetitive coal mines;
  • export-related activities;
  • the promotion of domestic goods over imports;
  • companies in difficulty² or subject to an outstanding Commission recovery order³.
• It also provides definitions of technical terms used in each of the 16 eligible aid categories.

Common rules

The regulation lays down the following common rules to benefit from the GBER:

• Notification thresholds. The aid cannot exceed specific financial ceilings, above which any individual aid must be notified to the Commission and approved before it can be granted;
• Transparency. It must be possible to precisely calculate the gross grant equivalent of the aid (such as grants, interest rate subsidies or loans) without having to carry out a risk assessment;
• Incentive effect. Beneficiaries must submit a written aid application to the Member State before embarking on the project or activity and large companies applying for ad hoc aid must demonstrate how the aid will help them expand their existing activities;
• Aid intensity and eligible costs. Where aid is limited to a certain maximum intensity of the eligible costs, the calculation is based on financial figures before deductions for tax or other charges and supported by clear, specific and up-to-date documentary evidence;
• Cumulation. When determining compliance with notification thresholds and maximum aid intensities, all sources of State aid to an activity or project are taken into account;
• Publication and information. Member States must publish, on a Commission, national or regional website, details of the aid they grant, including:
  • individual support of over €100,000,
  • any support over €500,000 for financial projects under the InvestEU fund, or
  • over €10,000 for agricultural, fishery or aquaculture activities;
• Withdrawal of block exemption. Where a Member State grants aid on the basis of the regulation without respecting its criteria, the Commission may withdraw the right of that Member State to grant aid under any, or some, of the block-exempted aid categories;
• Reporting. Member States must provide the Commission with:
  • an electronic summary (Annex II provides the standardised format) of each aid measure exempted under the regulation, within 20 working days of the entry into force of the measure;
  • an electronic annual report on how they apply the regulation.
• Monitoring. Member States must keep detailed records and supporting documentation for 10 years of all aid allowed by the regulation so that the Commission can monitor the aid granted.