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In the course of the State Aid Modernisation initiative, EU-rules for State aid for Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I) have been revised. New legal texts entered into force on July 1st 2014: the new Framework for State aid for Research, Development and Innovation (the Framework) and the new General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). This article describes the scope of the modifications and discusses new concepts the Commission has introduced in R&D&I State aid rules.
Keywords: Agriculture, Article 107(3)(b) TFEU, Cumulation, Economic activity, Fisheries, GBER, Innovation, Public procurement, Pre-commercial procurement, R&D&I, SAM, Shipbuilding, WTO.
I. State Aid Modernisation and R&D&I
In 2012, the Commission embarked on a modernisation of the whole set of EU State aid rules. Now, that process is for the most part complete. In a nutshell, State aid modernisation aimed at making State aid more effective in reaching the EU's growth and competitiveness priorities, at focussing scrutiny on aid with the biggest impact on the internal market, and at streamlining State aid rules.1 The rationale behind that effort was that State aid control can help to improve the quality of public spending, and thereby fix market failures. The revision of R&D&I State aid ruleswas a piece of that puzzle. That revision process took almost 2 and years and a half, fromthe very first public consultation end 2011 until the adoption of new rules in May 2014. The prize, the Commission hopes, is more private and public R&D-investment to the tune of 3% of EU GDP by 2020, improved framework conditions and access to finance for R&D&I, and the transformation of innovative ideas into products and services that create growth and jobs.
II. Revised Structure - Interplay Between the Framework and the GBER
1. The previous structure - partially overlapping texts
EU-rules for R&D&I State aid are set out in two legal texts: The General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)2 and the R&D&I-Framework.3 Prior to the revision, both texts partially overlapped. In the following, this previous structure will be briefly described, to highlight the contrast to the new one.
The 2006 Framework provided for two assessment approaches: Firstly, a form-based 'standard' assessment of R&D&I aid applied to individual aid as well as to aid schemes4: If all formal criteriaweremet, the positive presumption that...