The European Commission launched a public consultation on the application of procedural rules in state aid investigations. In the context of the State Aid Modernisation (SAM) initiative, the Commission invites to comment to clarify and simplify the current regime. Replies to the public consultation can be submitted by 5 October 2012.

The European Commission is inviting to stakeholders and citizens to send comments on the application of procedural rules in state aid investigations. The Commission proposes to clarify and simplify the current regime, laid down in a Council Regulation, in particular with regard to the handling of complaints and the collection of market information. Therefore, it is seeking views on this new regulation until 5 October 2012.

In particular, the consultation mainly aims at collecting the views of stakeholders on two priority areas. The state aid Procedural Regulation lays down detailed rules of procedure for state aid investigations. Its revision is one of the building blocks of the Commission's state aid modernisation package (SAM) adopted in May 2012. SAM identified two priority areas for the modernisation of state aid procedures, namely the handling of complaints and the collection of market information.

According to the European Commission, a modernisation of the procedural regulation is needed in order to improve the quality of the Commission’s state aid control in a European Union of now 27 Member States, 500 million inhabitants, and 23 official languages.