State Aid Modernization: The Commission Lays First Cornerstones

On December 5, 2012, the Commission issued an important package of proposals to amend Council Regulation 659/1999 governing State aid procedure and Council Regulation 994/98, which allows the Commission to exempt certain categories of State aid from the requirement of prior notification. These proposals constitute the first step of the Commission’s State Aid Modernization initiative, which was outlined in a Communication of May 8, 2012, and aims at (i) fostering economic growth; (ii) focusing the Commission’s enforcement activities on the most significant cases for the single market; and (iii) streamlining rules and allowing for a faster decision-making process in the field of State aid.