Global Trade Alert

 On 24 September 2015, the European Commission announced regulation 2015/1588 changing the rules for state aid in the European Union.
One of the key changes involved scrapping the notification requirement to the Commission and declaring the aid compatible with the common market for the following types of state aid (amongst others):

• small and medium-sized entreprises
• research and development
• employment and training
• forestry
• promotion of food sector products.

According to the preamble of the regulation, this exemption from the notification requirement should particularly hold for small amounts of state aid - yet no particular threshold is mentioned.
The regulation came into force twenty days after its publication, i.e. on 14 October 2015.
The GTA includes state guarantees and other financial incentives that are likely to affect the restructuring and performance of firms facing international competition, whether from imports, in export markets, and from foreign subsidiaries.