Download Tourism financing and State aid

State aid to tourism:
Overview of the rules
Conference on State aid Law
Brno, 18 May 2017
Disclaimer: the views expressed are
those of the speaker only and cannot
be regarded as stating an official
position of the European Commission
Graça da Costa
Senior Expert
State aid strategy
DG Competition
Index
 Introduction
 Public financing of tourism
o Instances where State aid is not involved
o Instances where there is State aid but there is no
need to notify
 Case experience
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Introduction
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Multiple activities-multiple rules…
•
"Tourism" is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice
of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining
tourists, and the business of operating tours"
•
Multiple
directly/indirectly
related
industries
and
activities:
accommodation
(hotels
resorts);
travel agency; reservation services;
tourism promotion; entertainment
activities (parks); cultural activities
(museums,
theatres);
sports
activities; transport activities (air
transport, cruises)….
Not possible to have one single
set of State aid rules …but many
possibilities of public financing in
compliance with the rules
•
Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Brno. Source: Flickr
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Instances where there is no State aid
• 1. No economic activity
• 2. No effect on trade
between Member States
• 3. No advantage
Source: Flickr
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1. No economic activity
• Notion of economic activity:
offering goods or services on
the market
• If activities not carried out
against remuneration : no
economic activity – no aid
• If the State fulfils a genuine
public task and responsibility:
no economic activity– no aid.
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Source: Flickr
2. No economic activity- examples
Non-income generating tourism facilities, : information
centres and other welcoming facilities, public parks, shelters
and observation points, picnic areas to be used free of charge,
nature paths including signage, piers, observation posts…
Distribution of touristic information materials free of
charge: brochures, maps, train and bus timetables
Free visits or tours
General destination marketing: image promotion of a
region (tv spot, website) …but should not include advertising
or booking facilities that are typically economic (e.g
identifying specific beneficiaries)
Culture, heritage conservation and nature conservation:
if not organized in a commercial way (e.g. free of charge or
not primarily financed by user fees
Source: Flickr
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3. No economic activity- examples (cont)
If the principle of ancillary activity
applies (article 207 of NOA) or if
public
financing
provided
to
customary
amenities
(coffee
shops, souvenir shops) of activities
almost exclusively used for noneconomic activity = overall activity
non-economic.
Source: Flickr
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No effect on trade between Member States
• Case-by-case analysis:
• - limited area
• - unlikely to attract customers from another
Member State (predominance of local users; similar
offers in other Member States)
• - the aid is unlikely to have more than a marginal
effect on the conditions of cross-border
investments or establishment (e.g. for linguistic
reasons)
• Support granted under de minimis
Regulation (not more than EUR 200 000 to a
single undertaking over 3 years)
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Source: Flickr
No advantage
• Investments in compliance with the Market
Economy Investor Principle(MEIP)
• pari passu with commercial operators
• - (ex-ante) business plan showing adequate
return on investment.
• Ex: the public authority co-invests under the same
terms and conditions with a private operator in an
accommodation facility or holiday booking platform
• Entrustment of SGEI in line with Altmark
criteria:
• Ex: support for accommodation facilities aimed at
hosting tourists with modest income
?
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Instances where there is State aid but
no need to notify
• If measure complying with GBER, such as:
o
o
•
Investment aid for local infrastructures up to EUR 10 million per project (Art.56) –
provided all conditions are complied with, no additional "local" requirement
Aid for sport and multifunctional recreational infrastructures (Art 55) .Ex. SPA
centre
o Aid to SMEs (Arts 17-19) Ex. for
participation in fairs
o Aid for cultural activities (investment
aid + operating aid )
o Regional aid (Art. 14), Training aid
(art 31)
o If service qualifies as SGEI and
measure can comply with SGEI
Decision – state aid for the
compensation of that SGEI up to EUR
15 million per year
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Case practice
GBER schemes
Regional aid
Treaty
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Thank you!
Graça da Costa
Senior Expert
State aid strategy
DG Competition
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