No. 44/14 18 December 2014 Covers the period from 11 to 17 December Highlights Commission turns state aid modernisation into action and calls for better cooperation with Member States to boost growth The European Commission has for the first time approved state aid evaluation plans for two different aid schemes in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. It will enable both countries to provide aid of more than €6 billion in total to spur investment and development. The aid schemes can now run until 2020 without requiring further Commission approval. This was made possible by the new General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), which as part of the Commission's State Aid Modernisation (SAM) Initiative, greatly extended the scope of aid exempted from prior notification to the Commission. Read more Commission approves aid to Banka Celje based on the restructuring plan of Banka Celje and its merger with Abanka The European Commission has concluded that the restructuring plan of the Slovene Banka Celje d.d. and its merger with Abanka Vipa d.d. was in line with EU state aid rules. The Commission found in particular that the restructuring plan ensures the viability of the merged entity in the long term without requiring further state support. At the same time the plan also mitigates the distortions of competition brought about by the aid granted to the bank. Read more Commission approves Catalunya Banc's revised restructuring plan following its sale to BBVA The European Commission has concluded that the sale of the Spanish bank Catalunya Banc to BBVA and the proposed amendments to its original restructuring plan were in line with EU state aid rules. The sale and the amendments ensure the bank's long-term viability as part of BBVA. At the same time competition distortions in the Single Market are mitigated and no additional state aid to Catalunya Banc or the buyer is granted. Read more Commission extends information enquiry on tax rulings practice to all Member States The European Commission has enlarged the enquiry into the tax ruling practice under EU state aid rules to cover all Member States. The Commission will ask Member States to provide information about their tax ruling practice, in particular to confirm whether they provide tax rulings, and,if they do, to request a list of all companies that have received a tax ruling from2010 to 2013. The Commission already requested similar information on tax rulings from several Member States in June 2013. This enquiry is fully in line with the recent calls for more transparency of tax rulings, in particular the initiative announced by President Juncker on the upcoming legal proposal regarding the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings, on which work is being led by Commissioner Moscovici. Read more General Court confirms the Commission’s decision that the partial exemption from the obligation of purchasing green electricity, which Austria plans to grant to energy-intensive businesses, constitutes unlawful State aid – 11 December 2014 In its judgment in Case T-251/11 – Austria v Commission the General Court dismissed the proceedings brought by Austria against a decision whereby the Commission found a scheme for energy-intensive businesses to constitute State aid incompatible with the internal market and decided that it could therefore not be granted. That aid is in particular not compatible with the Community guidelines on State aid for environmental protection. In particular, the Court decided that the Commission did not commit any error in considering that that partial exemption involved the use of State resources and emphasised that the aid mechanism for green energy and the exemption mechanism for energy-intensive businesses were established by law and must therefore be deemed to be attributable to the State. Read more In this issue: New legislation >> Court of Justice of the European Union >> Public consultations on draft legislation >> European Economic Area >> Commission Decisions >> Additional points of interest >> Block exemptions >> State Aid Weekly e-News No 44 1 2014 edition of the State Aid Scoreboard is on-line Read more Public consultations on draft legislation Deadline for comments Title Consultation on draft Guidelines for the examination of State aid to the fishery and aquaculture sector 20.01.2015 All public consultations: DG Competition / DG Agriculture / DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commission Decisions List of Commission Decisions taken during the reporting period, regardless of their publication in the Official Journal. The list of Commission Decisions recently published in the Official Journal is available here. Article 4(3) - decision not to raise objections Case Number Country Title Objective Decision date DG Competition France SA.39299 Crédit d'impôt en faveur de la création de jeux vidéo - modifications Culture 11/12/2014 Italy SA.38025 Prolongation of National Broadband Plan Italy Sectoral development 11/12/2014 Luxembourg SA.38739 Régime d'aide à l'innovation (LU) extension of duration of expired scheme Innovation 11/12/2014 Poland SA.38178 Reconstruction of heating infrastructure in Jaslo destroyed by the floods of 2010 Compensation of damages caused by natural disaster 15/12/2014 Slovenia SA.38522 Restructuring aid for Banka Celje/Abanka Remedy for a serious disturbance in the economy 16/12/2014 Spain SA.39402 Sale of Catalunya Banc Remedy for a serious disturbance in the economy 17/12/2014 United Kingdom SA.39273 Regional Growth Fund (RGF)- evaluation plan 11/12/2014 Corrigendum Country Case Title State Aid Weekly e-News No 44 Objective Decision 2 Number date DG Competition Denmark SA.36204 Aid to photovoltaic installations and other renewable energy installations Environmental protection 17/12/2014 Denmark SA.37122 Aid to household wind turbines and offshore wind turbines with an experimental aspect Environmental protection 17/12/2014 Block exemptions Block Exemptions information sheets published in the State Aid register during the reporting period. Court of Justice of the European Union List of cases discussed during the reporting period, as published in the judicial calendar of the Court. The respective case documents are normally published on the Court website within a short interval. Country Court Case Title Type of act Austria T-251/11 Austria v Commission Judgement Portugal T-487/11 Banco Privado Português and Massa Insolvente do Banco Privado Português v Commission Judgment Date 11/12/2014 12/12/2014 List of cases planned for the week following the reporting period, as published in the judicial calendar of the Court. Country Greece Court Case T-58/13 Title Club Hotel Loutraki and Others v Commission Type of act Judgment Date 08/01/2015 European Economic Area Based on the Agreement of the European Economic Area (EEA), the EFTA States participating in the EEA have entrusted the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA Court with similar decision making powers to that of the Commission and the European Court of Justice, respectively, in the field of state aid for the EFTA States. Block exemptions Country Case number Title/link to documents* Objective Norway GBER 37/2014/TRA Aid scheme to support Competence and Development of the Tourism Industry (Arts. 14,21-22, 25-30, 31, 36-49, 53 and 54) Training Norway GBER 36/2014/R&D &I Research and development contracts aid scheme (Arts. 21-22 and 25-30) Research, development and innovation Norway GBER 35/14/2014/T RA Corporate Internal Training (Art. 31) Training Norway GBER 34/2014/R&D &I Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research (FME) (Arts. 25-30) Research, development and innovation State Aid Weekly e-News No 44 3 Norway GBER 33/2014/R&D &I Wood-Based Innovation Scheme (Arts. 17-20, 25-30, 31, 36-49 and 53) Research, development and innovation Norway GBER 32/2014/R&D &I Innovation Projects for the Industrial Sector (Arts. 25-30) Research, development and innovation Norway GBER 31/2014/EMP Grant to cover the cost of constructing, installing or expanding the establishment of sheltered employment (Arts. 32-35) Employment Norway GBER 30/2014/EMP Grant to disability assistance in working life (Arts. 32-35) Employment Norway GBER 29/2014/EMP Wage Subsidies (Arts. 32-35) Employment Norway GBER 28/2014/EMP Pilot project – use of Work Assessment Allowance as wage subsidies (Arts. 32-35) Employment Norway GBER 27/2014/EMP Indefinite wage subsidies (Arts. 32-35) Employment Norway GBER 26/2014/TRA Aid Scheme for Competence and Advisory Services (Arts. 18-20, 21-22, 25-30, 31, 36-49 and 53) Training Norway GBER 25/2014/REG Regional Development Aid Scheme (Arts 18-20, 21-22, 25-30, 31, 36-49 and 53) Regional Other EEA points of interest Decision to approve regional aid scheme taken to Court Press release Additional points of interest Events Competition Law in the Aviation Sector 2015 IBC Legal Brussels, 29 January 2015 Read more Essentials of State Aid Law and Procedures Lexxion Brussels, 9-10 February 2015 Read more State Aid for Environmental and Energy Projects European Academy for Taxes, Economics and Law Berlin, 9-10 February 2015 Read more State Aid for Environmental and Energy Projects State Aid and Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) Brussels, 9-10 March Read more EStAL Intensive Workshop: The Role of the Market Economy Investor Principle (MEIP) / Infrastructure Funding in Compliance with State Aid Rules Lexxion London, 15 March 2015 Read more Miscellanea Commission Staff Working Document on Common methodology for State aid evaluation: working translations, for information purposes only, are available under the State Aid Modernisation page of DG Competition. Read more State Aid Weekly e-News No 44 4 Next publication date: Thursday 08.01.2015 Previous issues Subscription If you wish to subscribe to “State Aid Weekly e-News” and receive it in your Inbox for free, please click here. To unsubscribe, please use the same link, complete with your login or email address and password, confirm and on the next page click on "Unregister". Please, note that the information requested under “Change personal details” is not compulsory. In order to complete the subscription it is sufficient to fill in the data requested under “Add subscription”. About e-News This e-News is issued every week to present the latest developments in the area of State aid. It features information on new legislative texts and proposals, decisions of the European Commission and the Courts of the European Union and other state aid–related documents and events. A great deal of additional information on State aid matters is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server. Other documents related to the cases, can be found under the link to the State aid Register. Publisher European Commission DG Competition Unit A-3 – State aid strategy Chief Editor: Nicola Pesaresi Editing team: Hildegard Vandromme, Rashko Dorosiev, Giorgia Imbriani, Valerie Nechelput, Christine Jacob Contact the publisher for comments, queries or suggestions: [email protected] Disclaimer Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the completeness, accuracy of the information and the use which might be made of the information provided in this document. © European Union 2014. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated. Where prior permission must be obtained for the reproduction or use of textual and multimedia information, such permission shall cancel the above-mentioned general permission and shall clearly indicate any restrictions on use. State Aid Weekly e-News No 44 5
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