Is it possible for Member States to finance investment for the promotion of environmental protection?
Member States can finance a series of measures in relation to environmental protection without having to notify to the Commission, as long as they comply with the conditions laid down in the General Block Exemption Regulation (see IP/08/1110 and MEMO/08/482). Under the GBER they can grant: * investment aid enabling companies to go beyond Community standards for environmental protection or increase the level of environmental protection in the absence of Community standards * aid for the acquisition of new transport vehicles which go beyond Community standards or which increase the level of environmental protection in the absence of Community standards * aid for early adaptation to future Community standards for SMEs * investment aid for energy saving measures * investment aid for high efficiency cogeneration * investment aid for the promotion of energy from renewable energy sources * aid for environmental studies * aid in the form of reductions in environmental taxes. All these aid meas
