What state aid rules to support the recovery in maritime and insular regions?

Online - Zoom with French and English interpretation

You can find the recording of the conference HERE 

On Tuesday 16^th February 2021, 10:30 - 12:30 (CET) SEArica, in cooperation with the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions organised a webinar dedicated to the role of state aid rules in the post-Covid recovery of maritime and insular regions.

The Covid-19 pandemic has plunged the European Union into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The impact of the crisis has been highly asymmetric at territorial level and across sectors. The pace of the recovery is also expected to be uneven. Regional disparities, alongside social and economic ones, are likely to rise. Maritime and insular regions are among the hardest hit because of the specialization of their economies (e.g. strong reliance on tourism) and/or their geographical situation.  

The battery of emergency measures put in place by the Commission in Spring-Summer 2020 includes a temporary relaxation of state aid rules that have been prolonged until mid-2021. However, the current crisis has highlighted the need to envision a more flexible approach to state aid rules also in the long term in view of making them more responsive to both existing and emerging territorial challenges. The workshop aims to contribute to this reflection focusing on the review of regional state aid, which is currently underway. In addition, the discussion will also address state aid rules in the fishery and transport sectors.

Over the next few years, the Recovery Plan and MFF, adding to the national measures rolled out to support the recovery, will generate staggering volumes of public investments across Europe, mostly in the form of grants. It is important that the regional aid guidelines for 2021-2027, to be released in Spring 2021, are designed in such a way to help maximise, rather than hinder, the impact of these investments. The panellists assessed the main aspects related to regional aid and, more broadly, state aid in key sectors especially when looking at the needs of the maritime and insular territories. Among the main elements that were discussed: how regional aid rules could be more conducive to “green” investments; a possible review of intensity aid ceiling and population quota; a specific regime for islands; etc. 

The event took the form of a roundtable discussion with Karl Soukup, Director for State aid, General Scrutiny and Enforcement at DG Competition, joined by SEArica MEPs and political representatives from CPMR regions as well as experts.

The webinar was hosted by REGI Committee Chair Younous Omarjee with the participation of PECH Committee Chair Pierre Karleskind, SEArica Chair Tonino Picula, SEArica Vice-Chairs François Alfonsi and Alicia Homs and SEArica members Josianne Cutajar, Cyrus Engerer and Rosa Estaràs Ferragut. 

You can find the recording of the conference HERE