11 EU countries call for “great caution” in easing state aid rules – #countries #call #great #caution #easing #state #aid #rules
BRUSSELS, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Eleven European Union His country urged “great caution” in relaxing the bloc’s state aid rules to support Europe’s green industry in the global race, saying there was a risk of harmful competition within the bloc, the document said.
10 executive of the document block dated February Europe It was sent to the Commission and signed by Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands, Hungary, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Belgium.
Commission, in part USAto ease EU restrictions on state aid for investments in renewable energy or decarbonisation industries in response to the Inflation Reduction Act offer did However, the signatories are concerned about unfairly benefiting those with the deepest pockets in the 27-nation bloc.
“State aid to mass production and commercial activities can have significant negative effects, including fragmentation of the internal market, harmful subsidy competition and weakening of regional development,” the joint position paper, seen by Reuters, said.
Latest NewsEuropecategoryAnalysis: Kremlin moves to rein in Russian mercenary boss Prigogine, article with galleryGalleryBusinesscategoryDutch F-35s three near Poland Russia military captured his plane, picture article
See 2 more stories
“These harms may outweigh the positive effects. We, the signatory member states, call on the Commission to be very careful.”
Europe The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 11 countries called on the Commission to consider whether other policies better achieve the goal of promoting green investment, as well as to thoroughly analyze the risks before making any “fundamental changes”.
“EU state aid rules should be designed taking into account added value at the EU level as a whole. EU state aid rules must protect a level playing field in the EU internal market,” the information says.
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said this month that France and Germany – the bloc’s two biggest economies – accounted for almost 80% of approved state aid after the Commission first eased previous restrictions to help economies fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
27 national The EU leader discussed the issue in Brussels last week and hoped to resolve the differences on subsidies before the next summit to be held on March 23-24.
Speaking separately at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, Germany’s Christian Lindner said: “The German government is not interested in more spending and expanding subsidies… I can assure all member states that Germany will keep a fair, level playing field. field.”
“I invite them to consider with us how we can improve competitiveness without spending more – we can and will afford more cuts USA we can’t fight.”
The European Commission will first create a special fund to allocate more state aid to poor EU countries offer did However, this is not expected to materialize this year.
Added by Jan Strupczewski reportwriting by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Tomasz Janowski
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-02-14 16:53:41
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”