The European Commission adopted a Regulation for the provision that exempts from EU state aid rules aid of up to €500,000 per company over a three-year period that is granted as compensation for the provision of services of general economic interest (SGEI). The SGEI de minimis Commission Regulation adopted sets out the conditions under which support granted to SGEI providers does not constitute state aid within the meaning of Article 107 of the TFEU.

Amounts of up to €500,000 over three years are now deemed not to constitute aid because it does not affect competition or trade between Member States. The new Regulation adopted by the European Commission, and that will be in force until 31 December 2018, establishes so, and sets out the conditions under which support granted to services of general economic interest (SGEI) providers does not constitute state aid within the meaning of Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The Vice President of the Commission in charge of competition policy, Joaquín Almunia, highlighted in the light of this adoption that this new exemption will facilitate the provision of many small, local public services and will also help the Commission focus its efforts on cases where state aid has a real impact on competition and trade between Member States. The new Regulation is the last pillar of a new package of state aid rules for SGEI, the bulk of which has been adopted in December 2011.

Besides, the Commission assures that the new Regulation is a major simplification for both public authorities and service providers, because it will considerably reduce the administrative burden for granting public service compensation for small SGEI. At the same time, it increases legal certainty, because it establishes a clear threshold, below which SGEI compensation does not constitute state aid within the meaning of EU rules.