(1)

A number of the State aid rules adopted as part of the 2012 ‘State Aid Modernisation’ initiative are due to expire by the end of 2020. In particular, Commission Regulations (EU) No 1407/2013 (2) and (EU) No 651/2014 (3) will expire on 31 December 2020.

(2)

To provide predictability and legal certainty, while preparing for a possible future update of the State aid rules adopted as part of the State Aid Modernisation initiative, the Commission should take action in two phases.

(3)

First, the Commission should extend the period of application of State aid rules which would otherwise expire by end 2020. Second, in line with the Commission’s Better Regulation Guidelines (4), the Commission should evaluate those rules together with the other State aid rules, which were adopted as part of the State Aid Modernisation initiative. The Commission launched the evaluation of those rules on 7 January 2019 in the form of a ‘fitness check’. In the context of the European Green Deal (5) and the European Digital Agenda, the Commission has already announced its intention to revise a series of guidelines by the end of 2021. On that basis, the Commission will decide whether to further prolong or update the rules.

(4)

Considering the broad scope of the fitness check and the fact that the results of the evaluations will not be available before late 2020, a policy decision on the design of the State aid rules post 2020 cannot be taken in time to ensure legal certainty and stability for the stakeholders as regards the applicable rules post 2020. A prolongation is therefore necessary to allow a proper assessment of the State aid rules and ensure predictability and stability of those rules for the Member States.

(5)

Therefore, the period of application of Regulations (EU) No 1407/2013 and (EU) No 651/2014 should be extended by three years until 31 December 2023.

(6)

Regulations (EU) No 1407/2013 and (EU) No 651/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7)

As a consequence of the extension of the period of application of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, some Member States may wish to extend the validity of aid measures exempted under that Regulation and about which summary information has been provided in accordance with point (a) of Article 11 of that Regulation. In order to provide transparency, Member States should communicate to the Commission the updated summary information regarding the extension of those measures.

(8)

Schemes set up under Sections 1 (with the exception of Article 15), 2, 3, 4, 7 (with the exception of Article 44) and 10 of Chapter III of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, having an average annual State aid budget exceeding EUR 150 million, which have been exempted for longer than six months pursuant to a decision by the Commission and which the respective Member State wishes to extend for the period after 31 December 2020, should continue to be exempted until 31 December 2023, provided Member States have provided the Commission with the updated summary information and have submitted a final evaluation report in line with the evaluation plan approved by the Commission.

(9)

In view of the economic and financial consequences that the COVID-19 outbreak has on undertakings and in order to ensure consistency with the general policy response adopted by the Commission, especially in the period 2020-2021, Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 should be amended accordingly. In particular, undertakings which became undertakings in difficulty as a consequence of the COVID-19 outbreak should remain eligible under Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 for a limited period of time. Likewise, undertakings, which have to temporarily or permanently lay off staff due to the COVID-19 outbreak, should not be deemed to have breached relocation commitments given before 31 December 2019 at the time of receiving regional aid. Those exceptional provisions should apply for a limited period from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2021.

(10)

Regulations (EU) No 1407/2013 and (EU) No 651/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

Article 1 is amended as follows:

(2)

in Article 2, point (27) is replaced by the following:

(3)

Article 11 is replaced by the following:

(*1)  Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 implementing Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ L 140, 30.4.2004, p. 1)."

(*2)  Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/972 of 2 July 2020 amending Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 as regards its prolongation and amending Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 as regards its prolongation and relevant adjustments (OJ L 215, 7.7.2020, p. 3).’;"

(4)

in Article 14, paragraph 16, the following sentence is added:

‘With regard to commitments given prior to 31 December 2019, any loss of jobs, in the same or similar activity in one of the initial establishments of the beneficiary in the EEA, occurring between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2021, shall not be considered a transfer within the meaning of Article 2(61a) of this Regulation.’;

(5)

in Article 59, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘It shall apply until 31 December 2023.’