43 State aid
| (26530)
8483/05
COM(05) 147
| Commission Report: State Aid Scoreboard — Spring 2005 update
|
| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 20 April 2005
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| Deposited in Parliament | 17 May 2005
|
| Department | Trade and Industry
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 23 May 2005
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| Previous Committee Report | None; but see footnote
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| To be discussed in Council | None planned
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
43.1 The Commission reports twice-yearly on state aid and state
aid issues. The last report ("scoreboard") gave an
overview of the state aid situation in the ten new Member States
over a four-year period prior to accession, together with an insight
into the overall state aid situation in each of the new Member
States at accession; considered action by both the Commission
and Member States to follow up various Council conclusions on
state aid reached at different times since the adoption of the
Lisbon Strategy in 2000; and in a final section summarised ongoing
work to modernise state aid control, including efforts to support
aid for innovation.[171]
The document
43.2 This scoreboard is the Spring update and its main aim is
to consider to what extent Member States have responded to the
Lisbon Strategy. It provides an overview of the amounts and types
of distortive or potentially distortive state aid granted by the
Member States in 2003 (the latest year for which records are available)
and considers underlying trends. This section of the scoreboard
looks at the Commission's handling of a series of cases on state
aid for public service broadcasters. The second section describes
state aid control procedures, including the recovery of unlawful
state aid. Finally, the third section summarises ongoing work
to modernise the control of state aid, noting the Commission's
intention to issue a consultation paper on the future of state
aid policy in 2005.
43.3 The Commission summarises its main findings
under the following headings:
"Slight decline in level of State aid in relation
to GDP but the underlying trend is more stable than downward.
"Clear shift in emphasis from supporting individual
companies or sectors towards tackling horizontal objectives.[172]
"In the new Member States, the share of pre-accession
aid to horizontal objectives was low but a large proportion of
existing aid measures were earmarked for horizontal objectives.
"Overall level of aid earmarked for the least
developed regions remains around the €8 billion mark, around
one fifth of total aid.
"Majority of Member States tend to provide aid
to the manufacturing and service sectors in the form of grants.
"Following the adoption of the Broadcasting
Communication[173]
in 2001, the Commission has analysed the financing of broadcasting
systems in several Member States.
"Around 12% of all State aid cases registered
in 2004 were non-notified measures.
"In 2004, the Commission approved the award
of State aid in 93% of its decisions.
"Around € 4.6 billion of unlawful aid remains
to be recovered."
The Government's view
43.4 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Employment Relations, Competition and Consumers, Department of
Trade and Industry (Mr Gerry Sutcliffe) says, in words identical
to those used by the Government in relation to previous scoreboards:
"There are no direct policy implications from
this document, which is intended to increase transparency and
to emphasise the need for Member States to continue their efforts
in reducing the overall level of State aid as a percentage of
GDP and to redirect aid towards horizontal objectives of common
interest including economic and social cohesion and target it
to identified market failures. The European Commission is continuing
to review its State aid guidelines and to develop and modernise
procedures in order to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness
of State aid schemes."
Conclusion
43.5 We report this document, like previous scoreboards,
because it is a useful summary of the situation as regards state
aid in the European Union. We clear the document.
171 See (26170) 15279/04: HC 38-iv (2004-05), para
10 (19 January 2005). Back
172
That is aid - such as for research and development, employment
creation or small and medium enterprises - not directed to specific
sectors. Back
173
On the application of State Aid rules to public service broadcasting
- see OJ No. C 320, 15.11.01, p.5. Back
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