STATE AID : CONSULTATION ON REVIEW OF AID FOR R&D AND INNOVATION.

The EU's legislative framework on granting aid for research, development and innovation (R&D&I) is to be softened in order to boost European competitiveness. On 20 December, the European Commission submitted for consultation, until 20 February 2014, the draft text it plans to adopt in the spring of next year (to be applied the following July).

The new framework is complementary to the general block exemption regulation (GBER), which sets out the conditions for certain aid measures - including R&D&I aid - to be exempted from prior notification to the Commission. The GBER itself is subject to consultation until 12 February.

These two texts will allow member states to grant more aid in order to boost innovation, growth and jobs. The Commission wants to "strike a balance between the simplification of state aid rules on the one hand, and on the other hand its obligation to scrutinise the aid that has the strongest potential to distort competition on the internal market".

Conditions for subsidised pilot and demonstration projects will be more flexible, which should facilite the validation of technologies that are vital for the competitiveness of European industry, and for addressing societal challenges, such as climate change.aFurthermore, the GBER will admit greater scope for the automatic approval of innovation aid. Also, a new category of aid for the construction and upgrade of research...