Country Profile: Malta

• Author: Naldini, Andrea; Pompili, Marco; Peruccacci, Eleonora
• Pages: 211-213

211

20.COUN TRY PROFI LE: MALTA

20.1.Sect ion 1-National r ules for t he evaluation ofSt ate aidschemes

20.1.1.Obligat ion or lack ther eof to evaluat e

Malta does nothave any national obligations in place to evaluate public policies and

measures, nor does it have an obligation to evaluate State aidschemes. The only

ex isti ng eval uat ion req uir eme nts are th ose whi ch a re r equ ire d fo r EU fun ds, such as the

European Regional Development Fund/Cohesions Fund/European Social Fund and the

European Agricultu ral and Rural Dev elopment Fund .

The evaluation requirementset out in the EU State aidGuidelines and Frameworks

adopted since 2012, applies to aid measures with large aid budgets, containing novel

characteristics or when significant market, technology or regulatory changes are

foreseen. The General Block Exemption Regulation also foresees evaluation of aid

sch eme s in cer ta in area s. This conc ern s lar ge aid sche me s wi th an av erag e a nnu al State

aidbu dget of at least €1 50 million in t he fie lds of regional aid, aid forSMEs and access

to finance, aid for research and development and innovation, energy and env ironment

and aid for broadband inf rast ruct ures.

To date, Malta does not have any State aidschemes in place that are subject to such

ev alua tio n r equ ire me nt as for eseen by t he GB ER a nd oth er rel evan t Sta te aidGu idelines

an d h ence , t he re is n o o bli gat ion in t his re gar d. How eve r, th e S tat e aidMo nit or ing Boa rd

( SAMB) car rie s ou t an ex-an te asse ssme nt on each n ew aid sche me and po licy ob jec tiv e

on the basis of pre-defined criteria, in order to determine their compatibility with EU

State aidr ules before an y aid is gran ted. Mor eover, no nat ional o bligation s are i n force

to evaluat e St ate aidsch emes in Malt a, out side ESI F and GBER r egulations.

20.1.2.Procedures to enforce t he obli gation

No pr ocedures t o enforce the obligat ion to evaluat e are available.

20.2.Sect ion 2-National aut horit ies r esponsible for th e evaluat ion of State aid

20.2.1.Nation al organisat ion for Stat e aid

The na tio nal au th ori ty r espo nsib le f or al lSta te aid issu es i n Ma lta , th e SAMB , w as lega lly

est ablished in the year 2000, by virtu e of Ar ticles 57 and 58 of the Bu siness Promotion

Act of the Law s of Malta.

As set out in Ar ticle 5 8 of t he Busin ess Promo tion Act, th e SAMB is resp onsible to:

−establish and u pdat e a com prehen sive St ate aid inv ent ory;

−re view an d co ndu ct ex-a nte asse ssme nts on exi stin g a nd new St ate aid sch eme s,

and provide advice about their com patibility w ith the pr inciples contained in t he

relat ive present and future acts of t he European Union;

−establish and implement appropriate rules of procedure and methodological

systems which lead t o an effect ive Stat e aid m onito ring and repor ting system;

−provide expert opinions, positions and proposals for the formulation and

im plement ation of Stat e aid policy;

−prepare an annual reporton State aid in Malta, on the basis of the established

method ology used in the Eur opean Union;