Download ga. Mechtild von Maydell

European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Workshop 3
Audit of State Aids
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
1
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Introductory Remarks
1.
2.
3.
State Aids are a complex topic
Auditing state aids is of high importance due to the
danger of cumulation or of artificial division
The workshop is meant to share experiences
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
2
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Presentation on State Aid rules by Ms
Annette Matthias-Werner
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
3
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Concept of State Aid is clearly defined
Key elements are:
- Must be granted by the state/through state resources
- Must confer a benefit or advantage on the recipient
which it would not otherwise have received
- Must favour certain undertakings or the production of
certain goods
- Must distort or threaten to distort competition
- Must affect trade between member states
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
4
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Exemptions I
De Minimis
• De minimis aid is not considered to be state aid, because the
effect on trade is considered not to be sufficient to provoke a
distortion of competition. Therefore the question of
cumulation with other state aid rules is sometimes difficult.
Regulation 1998/2006 tries to clarify: no cumulation possible,
if the other aid instrument relates to the same eligible costs.
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
5
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Exemptions II
General Block Exemption Rule
• and the coordination of the State Aid Schemes.
Regulation n° 800/2008 of 6/8/2008 (OJ L 214 of 9/8/2008, p. 3)
• Chapter I: Horizontal provisions
• Standardised conditions and definitions
• Harmonisation & simplification
• Chapter II: Different exempted aid types, employment aid, SME aid,
investment aid, aid for environment, R&D&I etc.
• Chapter III:Transitional provisions
• Chapter III:Transitional provisions
• Annexes: Summary information form for measures under the GBER
-
Definition of SME (cf Commission Recommendation 2003)
Summary information sheets for R&D and large regional projects (specific
information for large individual aid measures within an aid regime, which are below
the notification threshold)
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
6
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Help offered by DG Competion
•If state aid is involved, it can be declared compatible
with the Treaty.
•legal instruments on
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/legisl
ation.html
•Procedural conditions: state aid project must be notified
•In case of use of GBER only summary information must
be send to the Commission
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
7
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Presentation on Cohesion Policy and
state aid by Dr Johannes Sollgruber
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
8
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Standard clause in Operational
Programmes
Any aid granted under an operational programme must comply with the State aid rules
that are in force.
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
9
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Definition, allocation and separation of functions
within the Intermediate Bodies
In order to avoid risks arising from the fact that the IB is responsible
for the selection and approval of operations and for the management
verifications, adequate segregation of duties should be ensured
between these two functions, either by:
– ensuring different units within the IB are responsible for each
function, or
– ensuring different persons carry out the specific procedures.
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
10
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Regional Aid guidelines
Regional state aid guidelines. They give substance to the
articles 87(3)(a) and 87(3)(c) of the Treaty. In essence they
indicate the maximum grant rates allowed for certain
specifically designated regions. Under the Regional Aid
Guidelines 2007-2013, Member States were invited to notify a
single regional aid map for 2007-2013 covering their entire
territory as soon as possible after the publication of the
Guidelines. The provisions for "statistical effected regions" to
be revised in 2010 and their financial envelope as well as
degressive state aid intensities are similar and prove
coherence between both policies.
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
11
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Regional aid guidelines
Regional aid may be approved:
• Article 87(3)(a) : economic cohesion at Community
level
• Article 87(3)(c): national disparities
•
•
•
•
•
•
Award maxima under the Regional Aid Guidelines
Large firms-Medium-firms-Small firms
‘a’ regions GDP per head <45% EU25 average
‘a’ regions GDP per head <60% EU25 average
‘a’ regions GDP per head <75% EU25 average
‘c’ areas (general case)
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
12
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
State aid maps
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
13
European Union
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Republika Slovenija
Assessment of compatibility-a riskbased approach to State aid
assessment
Large regional aid
eg risk capital
RDI
Specified aid
categories
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
14
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Management & Control procedures for
state aid operations in Operational
Programmes 2007 – 2013 in Greece
by Ms Matthoula Triantafyllou
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
15
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Specific characteristics of the state aid
operations in OPs 2007-2013
Intermediate bodies responsible for the management of state aid operations:
• public administration bodies which have the responsibility to select the
recipients, to allocate the individual grants according to national law
provisions
• private bodies which have been selected through open call for proposals
(e.g. financial institutions)
Different categories of state aid actions:
• aid schemes covered by the block exception and concern SMEs investment
and employment aid, aid for research and development and innovation in
the form of non-repayable aid, loans, guarantees, interest subsidies or/and
state aid through financial engineering instruments
• de minimis support
• measures which require notification
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
16
European Union
Republika Slovenija
Homologues Group Meeting
Slovenia, October 2009
Criteria used to assess the effective functioning of
systems
Designing the management & control procedures, we took into account the
assessment criteria for each key requirement, which are used when the system
is audited.
The key requirements include:
1. Definitions of functions between and within MA / IB
2. Adequate procedures for the selection of projects
3. Adequate information and guidance to beneficiaries
4. Adequate Management Verifications
5. Adequate audit trail
6. Reliable accounting, and financial reporting system
7. Necessary preventive and corrective actions
Ljubljana, 12-13 October 2009
17