Publication process of Commission decisions

In State Aid cases, the Commission can take different kind of decisions, which are defined in the procedure regulation. Essentially, one can distinguished between decisions taken at the end of phase I of the examination and decisions taken at the end of phase II of the examination.

Phase I: Preliminary examination

Cases that do not give rise to doubts are closed after the preliminary examination with a decision that the measure does not constitute aid or a decision not to raise objections to the aid because it is compatible with the common market. For these decisions, an announcement is published in the Official Journal in all 11 official Community languages, but the decision itself is only available in the language of the Member State concerned on the web site of the Secretariat General. If the Commission has doubts about the compatibility of aid with the common market, it must open a formal investigation procedure. The decision to do so is published in the Official Journal in the authentic language version together with a meaningful summary in the other official languages. Due to delays in translation, it can take several months until the publication in the Official Journal takes place.

Phase II: Formal investigation

The formal investigation is closed by a decision which is published in the Official Journal in all Community languages. Decisions closing a formal investigation are: the measure does not constitute aid, a positive decision, a conditional decision, a negative or partially negative decision or noting that the Member State has withdrawn the original notification. Due to delays in translation, it can take several months until the publication in the Official Journal takes place.

Press releases are also issued for certain cases and these are available on the same day the decision is taken. They are available on this web site in the news section.

State aid case number

The case number is composed of four elements (example: N 793b/1999)

Case classification: N indicates a notified case; NN indicates a non-notified case; E indicates a case of existing aid; XE indicates an employment block exemption case; XS indicates an SME block exemption case; XT indicates a training block exemption case; C when the Commission harbours doubts as to the compatibility of aid with the common market, a formal investigation is opened and the case classification is changed to C; Number indicates the serial number of the respective case type, e.g. 793. Occasionally a single large case that comprises numerous state aid measures may be split into two or more cases. This split is identified by the 'a', 'b' etc; Year indicates the year of registration of the case by the Commission, e.g. 2000.