Legal provisions of COM(2022)327 - Application of a few Articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU to certain categories of State aid in the rail, inland waterway and multimodal transport sector

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dossier COM(2022)327 - Application of a few Articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU to certain categories of State aid in the rail, ...
document COM(2022)327 EN
date December 19, 2022


Article 1

Block exemptions

1. The Commission may adopt, subject to Article 5 of this Regulation, regulations declaring that the following categories of aid, within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty, are compatible with the internal market and are not subject to the notification requirements of Article 108(3) of the Treaty:

(a)aid for the coordination of transport;

(b)aid for reimbursement for the discharge of certain obligations inherent in the concept of a public service, excluding public service compensation in relation to public passenger transport services, which is covered by Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007.

2. Regulations adopted pursuant to paragraph 1 shall specify for each category of aid:

(a)the purpose of the aid;

(b)the categories of beneficiaries;

(c)thresholds expressed in terms of:

(i)aid intensities in relation to a set of eligible costs;

(ii)maximum aid amounts; or

(iii)the maximum level of State support in, or related to, the aid for certain types of aid where it may be difficult to precisely identify the aid intensity referred to in point (i) or the amount of aid referred to in point (ii), in particular financial engineering instruments or risk capital investments or those of a similar nature, without prejudice to the qualification of the measures concerned in the light of Article 107(1) of the Treaty;

(d)the conditions governing the cumulation of aid; and

(e)the transparency and monitoring rules set out in Article 2.

3. In addition, regulations adopted pursuant to paragraph 1 may, in particular:

(a)set thresholds or other conditions for the notification of awards of individual aid;

(b)exclude certain sectors from their scope;

(c)attach further conditions for the compatibility of aid with the internal market.

Article 2

Transparency and monitoring

1. Regulations adopted pursuant to Article 1(1) shall include detailed rules to ensure transparency and monitoring of aid.

2. Where a Member State implements aid schemes or individual aid not subject to notification requirements pursuant to regulations adopted pursuant to Article 1(1), it shall provide the Commission with summaries of the information regarding such aid. The Commission shall publish those summaries.

3. Each Member State shall record and compile all the information regarding the application of the regulations adopted pursuant to Article 1(1). Where the Commission has information which provides reasons to believe that a regulation adopted pursuant to Article 1(1) is not being applied properly, the Member State concerned shall provide the Commission with any information that the Commission considers necessary to assess whether aid granted under that regulation complies with all its conditions.

4. At least once a year, each Member State shall provide the Commission with a report on the application of the regulations adopted pursuant to Article 1(1), in accordance with the Commission’s specific requirements. The Commission shall make those reports accessible to all the other Member States. The Committee referred to in Article 5 shall examine and evaluate those reports once a year.

Article 3

Period of validity and amendment of regulations

1. Regulations adopted pursuant to Article 1(1) shall specify their period of validity and shall provide for a transitional period in case their period of validity is not extended when they expire.

2. Where a regulation adopted pursuant to Article 1(1) is repealed or amended by a new regulation, the new regulation shall provide for a transitional period of 6 months to allow for the adjustment of aid covered by the repealed or amended regulation.

Article 4

Hearing of interested persons and organisations

Before the adoption of a regulation pursuant to Article 1(1), the Commission shall publish a draft thereof to enable all interested persons and organisations to submit their comments within a time limit fixed by it. That time limit shall be at least 1 month. At the same time, the Commission shall make public that draft regulation on its website.

Article 5

Consultation of the Advisory Committee on State aid

1. The Commission shall consult the Advisory Committee on State aid established by Regulation (EU) 2015/1588 (the ‘Committee’):

(a)at the same time as a draft regulation pursuant to Article 1(1) is published pursuant to Article 4; and

(b)before adopting any regulation pursuant to Article 1(1).

2. The Commission shall consult the Committee at a meeting it shall call by means of electronic communication. The drafts and documents to be examined shall be annexed to the electronic communication. The meeting shall take place no earlier than 2 months after the electronic communication. That period may be reduced in the case of the consultations referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article where justified by reasons of urgency or for the extension of the period of validity of a regulation adopted pursuant to Article 1(1).

3. A representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the chairman of the Committee may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, where necessary by taking a vote.

4. The opinion of the Committee shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. Each Member State may ask to have its position recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The Committee may recommend the publication of the opinion in the Official Journal of the European Union.

5. The Commission shall take into account the opinion delivered by the Committee and shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.

Article 6

Evaluation report

Every 5 years, the Commission shall submit an evaluation report on the application of this Regulation to the European Parliament and to the Council. It shall first submit a draft of that report to the Committee for its consideration.

Article 7

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.