EU State Aid Scoreboard Shows Levelling Off
According to the EU's State Aid Scoreboard, released last week, the total amount
of state aid granted by the twenty-five Member States was estimated at some
EUR62 billion in 2004 (0.60% of EU GDP). This is the first edition of the Scoreboard to include comparable figures
for all twenty-five Member States. While some Member States have reduced the
overall level of aid, for the Union as a whole the Lisbon objective of less
aid has not yet been met. On the other hand, according to the EC, most Member States appear to be targeting
their aid measures towards horizontal objectives, in particular the environment.
By sector, around EUR40 billion of aid was earmarked for manufacturing and
services, EUR15 billion for agriculture and fisheries, EUR5.5 billion for coal
and a little over EUR1 billion for transport (excluding railways). “While I recognise the efforts of some Member States in tackling the
Lisbon goals of less and better targeted aid, I am disappointed that the overall
level of aid in the EU has not fallen. One of the best ways to reduce state
aid is clearly to make better use of alternative instruments such as general
and regulatory measures which are less or not at all distortive to competition”
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes commented. According to the Scoreboard, in absolute
terms, Germany granted the most aid (EUR17 bn) followed by France (EUR9 bn)
and Italy (EUR7 bn). .
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