Introduction

• Author: Michie, Rona; Wishlade, Fiona; Mendez, Carlos
• Pages: 1-1

Fact-finding study on the GBER transparency re quirement

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1. INTRODUCTION

The objective of this study is to provide a review and analysis of how Member State authorities

have implemented the transparency requirements of the General Block Exemption Regulation

(GBER) and relevant State aid guidelines.4 A wider aim is to feed into future policymaking on

transparency and compliance.

The core of the study concerns the reporting systems for State aid awards exceeding €500,000,

which Member States have had to have in place for individual awards made since 1 July 2016

(including for State aid measures that predate the entry into force of the requirements). The

Commission has set up an IT system to facilitate this reporting – the Transparency Award Module

(TAM) - but Member States are not obliged to use this and may comply with reporting

requirements through publicly accessible online systems that meet the relevant criteria.

The study involves two main tasks:

Task 1 comprising:

• Task 1.1 - Mapping national setups in Member States for the implementation of the

transparency requirements

• Task 1.2 - Assessing the effectiveness of the different national setups in ensuring

compliance with the transparency obligations; proposing case studies to be undertaken in

Task 2.

Task 2: Identification of future changes in the transparency requirements in order to improve

compliance on the basis of selected case studies.

This Final Report brings together the results of both tasks and is structured in line with those tasks

as follows: Section 2 provides a comparative overview of approaches to compliance; Section 3

explores the available data on compliance to determine whether a link can be established

between compliance systems and levels of compliance; Section 4 compares and contrasts the

views and attitudes of selected Member States to the transparency requirements with the aim of

identifying what changes, if any, could improve compliance ; and Section 5 concludes.

This report is accompanied by two Annexes:

• Annex A: Country profiles of the transparency systems for the EU27 and the United

Kingdom

• Annex B: Country case studies focused on potential changes to transparency requirements.

4 Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014.