10/07/2008

European Union. The adoption of the Commission General Block Exemption Regulation will facilitate state aid to SMEs

The European Commission has adopted a General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). Thanks to this new instrument, state aid to create jobs, boost competitiveness and improve the environment will be considered legal in accordance with Community Competition rules without it first being necessary to notify the Commission.

This Regulation constitutes an important and immediate contribution to the recently adopted Small Business Act since the target of many of the measures covered by the GBER are Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Among many other things, the Regulation covers the following categories of aid measures: SME investment and employment; consultancy in favour of SMEs; research and development; industrial property rights costs for SMEs; young innovative enterprises; or early adaptation to future environmental standards for SMEs.

The Regulation will be applicable 20 days after publication in the Official Journal.

Related Links:
Commission Related Press Release
Provisional Text of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)

Related news item in IPR-Helpdesk:
2008/06/30. European Union. The Commission has published the Communication Think Small First - A "Small Business Act" for Europe