the EU commission has simplified the rules on the investments publics in the ports and the airports



Today the EU commission has approved of norms on the aids of State that have the scope to favor the investments publics in the ports and the airports. "We want to make in way - Margrethe Vestager has explained, European commissioner to the Competition - than the societies can compete to equal conditions in the home market, and we want to make it in possible the more effective way. The norms of the EU on the aids of State are them were about to all the Member States. The introduced changes today will save to the States time and labor in the investments for ports and airports, the culture and the ultraperipheral regions of the EU, protecting at the same time the competition. This will also afford to the Commission to concentrate on the aids of State that more strongly affect the competition in the only market, for being "large on the great issues and little ones on the small", to advantage of all the European citizens".

The Commission has remembered that the general regulations of exemption for category of 2014 have authorized the Member States to put into effect without advance approval of the Commission an immense range of aids of State that have small chances to forge the competition. Consequently by now it is exempted about 95% of the aids of State put into effect from the Member States (for a total annual expense of about 28 billion euros). Today the Commission has extended the field of application of this regulations to the ports and the airports.

In particular, regarding the airports, the Member States can now carry out investments publics in the regional airports that manage per year until three million passengers in full legal certainty and without advance control of the Commission. This - it has evidenced Brussels - will facilitate the investments publics in more than 420 airports than all the Union (that they manage about 13% of the air traffic).

The regulations authorize moreover the public authorities to cover the expenses of operation of little ones airports that manage per year until 200 000 passengers. The Commission has emphasized that these little ones airports, that the airports of the EU are almost the half of all but they manage only 0.75% of the air traffic, can offer to an important contribution to connectivity of a region, but difficultly can forge the competition in the only market of the EU.

Regarding the ports, the Member States can now carry out investments publics until 150 million euros in the marine ports and 50 million euros in the internal ports in full legal certainty and also in this case without advance control of the Commission. The regulations authorize the public authorities to cover the expenses of dredging of the ports and the relative ways of access.

The modification regulations will take effect 20 days after the publication in the Gazette of the European Union.