As reported in the previous edition, the European Commission has confirmed the amendment of the State Aid Temporary Framework that will extend it to 30 June 2021 and broaden its scope to include State aid to help businesses cover their fixed costs up to a threshold of €3 million per undertaking. This is a major step up from the current limit of €800.000 per company for direct grants. (Source: Agence Europe)
Under the current rules, the Commission has most recently approved:
- a €15,8 million Belgian scheme to support hotels and aparthotels in Brussels in the context of the coronavirus outbreak;
- a Danish wage compensation scheme to support companies prohibited from operating due to the coronavirus outbreak;
- a €8,5 million Italian tax scheme to support agricultural cooperatives affected by the coronavirus outbreak;
- a €1,5 million Slovenian scheme to support farmers and SMEs active in the agri-food sector affected by the coronavirus outbreak;
- two Swedish schemes to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak and related restrictive measures implemented to limit its spread.
The European Commission has published a document with questions and answers about the coordination of measures restricting free movement in the EU, which is currently being discussed by the Member States at the European Council summit. The Commission explains that it published the non-binding recommendation to make measures better coordinated, predictable and transparent, e.g. by mandating that new measures are communicated clearly and in advance by Member States. A single map published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control will categorise the severity of the outbreak of the coronavirus across the regions in Europe using a traffic light system.