Key points

The EESC:

• believes that the current Temporary Crisis and Transition Frameworks (TCTF) should be thoroughly evaluated in order to determine whether it would be appropriate to phase them out in 2025, as currently planned, or if it would be useful to incorporate some of the elements that have proven beneficial for the green transition into the regular State aid rules, particularly procedural improvements;

• calls for a reflection on an important part of the Much More Than a Market Report drawn up by Enrico Letta on the need to quickly mobilise national targeted public support for industry, in so far as it addresses in a proportionate way market failures, while preventing the fragmentation of the single market. A way to overcome this dilemma could be to balance a stricter enforcement of State aid at national level and the progressive expansion of EU level funding support. Specifically, we could envision a Stade aid contribution mechanism, requiring Member States to allocate part of their national funding to the financing of pan-European initiatives and investments’;

• emphasizes the need to facilitate access to finance for social economy players throughout their life cycle. This could include adapting the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) for State aid to social enterprises and reassessing the rules on aid for the recruitment of disadvantaged workers’;

• considers the idea of possibly establishing a pan-European State aid sovereign fund in the future – as suggested by the Letta report – very interesting, given that it could be beneficial for preserving social cohesion and for the proper functioning of the single market.

For more information, please contact the INT Section Secretariat