What is the procedure for assessing the financing of PSB under state aid rules?
The Commission follows different procedures depending on whether the aid measure is “new” or “existing”. As regards the new aid procedure, if the Commission has doubts about the compatibility of an aid measure, it decides to open the formal investigation procedure (that was the case for the investigations of ad hoc financing measures in France, Italy and Portugal). This decision is published in the Official Journal and the Member State concerned as well as all interested parties have the opportunity to comment. After the formal investigation, the Commission can decide either that there is no aid, or that there is aid but that it is compatible with EC Treaty state aid rules (possibly after changes are made by the Member State) or that the aid is incompatible (because it is liable to distort competition) and so cannot be put into effect, or even that incompatible aid would have to be reimbursed (‘recovered’), because the aid was granted without being notified to the Commission and was th
