What is the role of the state aid rules in the Recovery Plan?
The EU’s state aid rules have been modernised and improved in recent years. On the one hand Member States have a very wide range of measures at their disposal to grant aid targeted at improving Europe’s competitiveness. On the other hand the rules ensure a level-playing field within the Single Market and avoid that individual Member States or companies enjoy an unfair competitive advantage compared to others. This is essential to avoid triggering a subsidy race which would both damage competitiveness and exacerbate the risk of company failure and unemployment over the medium-term. The Recovery Plan announces that the Commission will put in place a simplification package, notably to speed up its state aid decision-making. Any state aid should be channelled through horizontal schemes designed to promote the Lisbon objectives, notably research, innovation, training, environmental protection and in particular clean technologies, transport and energy efficiency. The Commission will also tem
