The European Commission has adopted today amendments to its State aid rules to provide public access to justice in environmental matters in relation to EU State aid decisions. For that purpose, the Commission revised rules which allow non-governmental organisations (‘NGOs')  to request a Commission review of certain State aid decisions to establish whether they contravene EU environmental law. This new review mechanism addresses the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee's findings in case ACCC/C/2015/128.  

Today, the Commission presents the Clean Industrial Deal, a bold business plan to support the competitiveness and resilience of our industry. The Deal will accelerate decarbonisation, while securing the future of manufacturing in Europe.
Competition policy will continue to provide a framework for investment and innovation. Through the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework, it will help direct investment where needed - supporting the roll-out of renewable energy, driving industrial decarbonisation, and ensuring sufficient manufacturing capacity for clean tech - while safeguarding fair competition.

Today, the European Commission has adopted an amendment of the 'de minimis' Regulation for the agricultural sector (‘Agricultural de minimis Regulation'). The Regulation exempts small amounts of support in the agricultural sector from State aid control since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market. The revised Regulation will enter into force three days after its publication in the Official Journal and will apply until 31 December 2032.

The European Commission has decided to withdraw its 2021 communication providing guidance on the application of the referral mechanism set out in Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR') to certain categories of cases (‘Guidance').

How should the concept of market distortion for a foreign subsidy be interpreted? You can read about this and other Q&A on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation in the Commission Staff Working Document just published.
The new Staff Working Document offers initial clarifications on the following:

• Distortion in the internal market caused by a foreign subsidy;
• Application of the balancing test;
• Assessment of distortion in public procurement procedures.

The European Commission has adopted an amendment to the Guidelines on Regional State aid (‘RAG') to allow Member States to grant higher amounts of regional aid for investment projects covered by the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (‘STEP'). The STEP aims to support the development and manufacturing of critical technologies relevant to the EU green and digital transitions, as well as the EU's strategic sovereignty.

The European Commission has sent to Member States for consultation a draft proposal for a limited prolongation of the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF') in order to allow continued support for the primary agricultural sector in view of the persisting market disturbances.

The European Commission has today adopted a revised Market Definition Notice (“the Notice”). Market definition requires identifying the boundaries of competition between companies when assessing mergers and most antitrust cases. The revised Notice brings the Commission's guidance in line with new market realities, as well as with developments in the Commission's case practice and EU case law. It will enhance transparency and legal certainty for businesses, facilitate compliance and contribute to a more efficient competition enforcement.
See also Questions and answers on the revised Market Definition Notice; the COMP Flash by Inge Bernaerts, Director of Policy and Strategy at DG COMP, as well as the remarks by Executive Vice-President Vestager.

New Legislation
'What's new?'

New Legislation

The European Commission has today adopted two regulations amending the general rules for small amounts of aid (de minimis Regulation) and for small amounts of aid for Services of General Economic interest, such as public transport and healthcare (SGEI de minimis Regulation). The revised regulations, which exempt small aid amounts from EU State aid control since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market, will enter into force on 1 January 2024 and will apply until 31 December 2030.

The European Commission adopted today Guidelines on how to design sustainability agreements in the field of agriculture (‘Guidelines') using a novel exclusion from EU competition rules introduced by the recently reformed Common Agricultural Policy.

The European Commission has sent to Member States for consultation a draft proposal to partially adjust the phase-out schedule of the provisions of the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework aimed at providing a crisis response following Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the unprecedented increase in energy prices.

The European Commission has decided not to extend the EU legal framework which exempts liner shipping consortia from EU antitrust rules (Consortia Block Exemption Regulation or ‘CBER'). The Commission has concluded that the CBER no longer promotes competition in the shipping sector and therefore it will let it expire on 25 April 2024.
See also Q&A on the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation.

The European Commission has adopted today an amendment of the so-called 'de minimis' regulation for the fishery and aquaculture sector (‘Fishery de minimis Regulation'). The revised regulation, which exempts small aid amounts from State aid control since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market, will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal.

Today, September 1st, the package adopted on 20 April 2023 to further simplify procedures for reviewing concentrations under the EU Merger Regulation enters into force. The package includes: (i) a revised Implementing Regulation; (ii) a Notice on Simplified Procedure; and (iii) a Communication on the transmission of documents.
See also Competition Policy Brief on the Merger Simplification Package.

The European Commission has adopted today the rules for implementing the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (‘FSR'). The Implementing Regulation details procedural aspects of the implementation of the FSR. It also contains notification forms for concentrations involving foreign financial contributions and for foreign financial contributions in public procurement procedures.

The European Commission has today adopted revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on Research and Development (‘R&D') and Specialisation agreements (‘HBERs'), accompanied by revised Horizontal Guidelines, following a thorough evaluation and review of the current rules. The revised HBERs and Guidelines provide businesses with clearer and up-to-date guidance to help them assess the compatibility of their horizontal cooperation agreements with EU competition rules. The new HBERs will enter into force on 1 July 2023, while the Guidelines will do so following their publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
See also FAQs on adoption of the new Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations and Horizontal Guidelines.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA)'s objective is to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital sector. And to reach this objective, the DMA defines:

• Gatekeepers as those large online platforms that provide an important gateway between business users and consumers;
• A series of specific obligations that gatekeepers will need to respect.

Listen to DG Competition Director for Mergers Guillaume Loriot tell you all about the new package to simplify merger control procedures.
[...] "The simplification package is a milestone moment in our effort to reduce red tape"
[...] Our objective? Cut reporting requirements by 25%.