Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

60. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the implementation process for Ireland in adopting the new general block exemption regulation; the assessment process; the effect to the grant process for the Industrial Development Agency, Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24829/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As part of the State Aid Modernisation (SAM) process, the Commission recently adopted a new, expanded Group or General Block Exemption Regulation, which will come into place on 01 July. The Regulation allows Member States to bring certain State aid schemes into place without prior notification to the EU Commission, provided that they are within the parameters set out in the regulation.

The Commission estimates that 75% of current aid measures and about two thirds of total aid amounts granted by Member States could be covered by the new Regulation. This could even extend to up to 90% of all aid measures, if Member States fully utilise the Regulation.

The current regulation already allows some areas of the below categories to be block exempted. Most of these categories will now be broadened:

- Aid for climate change and for other environmental protection;

- Aid for research and development and innovation;

- Aid for the rescue and restructuring of firms in difficulty;

- Aid for small and medium-sized enterprises;

- Aid to employment;

- Training aid;

- Aid for risk capital;

- Aid for services of general economic interest.

Agreement on the revised Enabling Regulation was secured by the Competition Working Party, chaired by Ireland, in June 2013. The Enabling Regulation dictates how the Commission decides upon the scope of the types of aid that could in the future be covered by block exemptions.

The adoption of a revised Enabling Regulation allowed the Commission to exempt new categories, such as aid for local, broadband, research and energy infrastructures, innovation clusters, regional urban development funds, culture and heritage conservation, audio-visual works, sports and recreational infrastructures and aid to make good damage caused by certain natural disasters.

The revised GBER has also been simplified by the Commission, taking on board comments from Member States at multilateral meetings and through a public consultation process. The conditions required for aid measures to benefit from the exemption have been significantly clarified and simplified. This simplification of process is one of the core principles of the State Aid Modernisation process.

The scope of the GBER has been enhanced significantly and therefore the Commission has introduced improved ex-post controls. The regulation introduces a provision on evaluation by Member States of very large schemes with an average annual budget exceeding €150 million. This aims at verifying whether the conditions underlying the compatibility of an aid scheme have been complied with, whether its objectives have been realised and what impact it had on competition and trade.

Based on an analysis of recent expenditure amounts, it is anticipated that very few Irish schemes under the Industrial Development Agency, Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland will be subject to the evaluation requirements. Aid measures will also be made more transparent, by asking Member States to publish lists of the aid beneficiaries.

It is important to note that the fact that a state aid measure is not covered by the GBER does not imply that it is incompatible with EU state aid rules; it merely means that the measure needs to be notified to the Commission for individual assessment.