Belgiumhungary State Aid Tender

The European Commission has approved under EU State aid rules Hungarys map for granting regional aid from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2027. The Hungarian regional aid map is among the first maps approved by the Commission within the framework of the revised Regional aid Guidelines RAG.The revised RAG adopted by the Commission on 19 April 2021 and entering into force on 1 January 2022 enable Member States to support the least favoured European regions in catching up and to reduce disparities in terms of economic well-being income and unemployment cohesion objectives that are at the heart of the Union. They also provide increased possibilities for Member States to support regions facing transition or structural challenges such as depopulation to contribute fully to the green and digital transitions.At the same time the revised RAG maintain strong safeguards to prevent Member States from using public money to trigger the relocation of jobs from one EU Member State to another which is essential for fair competition in the Single Market.Hungarys regional aid map defines the Hungarian regions eligible for regional investment aid. The map also establishes the maximum aid intensities in the eligible regions. The aid intensity is the maximum amount of State aid that can be granted per beneficiary expressed as a percentage of eligible investment costs.Under the revised RAG regions covering 82.09 of the population of Hungary will be eligible for regional investment aid. These regions are all among the most disadvantaged ones in the EU with a GDP per capita below 75 of EU average. Therefore they are all eligible for aid under Article 1073a TFEU so-called a areas with the following maximum aid intensities for large enterprises depending on the GDP per capita of the respective a areasThe regions of Pest Dl-Dunntl szak Magyarorszg szak-Alfld and Dl-Alfld with a maximum aid intensity for large enterprises of 50The regions of Kzp-Dunntl and Nyugat-Dunntl with a maximum aid intensity for large enterprises of 30.In these areas the maximum aid intensities can be increased by 10 percentage points for investments made by medium-sized enterprises and by 20 percentage points for investments made by small enterprises for their initial investments with eligible costs up to 50 million.Once a future territorial Just Transition plan in the context of the Just Transition Fund Regulation will be in place Hungary has the possibility to notify the Commission an amendment to the regional aid map approved today in order to apply a potential increase of the maximum aid intensity in the future Just Transition areas as specified in the revised RAG for a areas.BackgroundEurope has always been characterised by significant regional disparities in terms of economic well-being income and unemployment. Regional aid aims to support economic development in disadvantaged areas of Europe while ensuring a level playing field between Member States. In the RAG the Commission sets out the conditions under which regional aid may be considered to be compatible with the internal market and establishes the criteria for identifying the areas that fulfil the conditions of Article 1073a and c of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a and c areas respectively. Annexes to the Guidelines identify the most disadvantaged regions so-called a areas which include the outermost regions and regions whose GDP per capita is below or equal to 75 of the EU average and the pre-defined c areas representing former a areas and sparsely populated areas.Member States can designate the so-called non-predefined c areas up to a maximum pre-defined c coverage for which figures are also available in Annexes I and II to the Guidelines and in line with certain criteria. Member States need to notify their proposal for regional aid maps to the Commission for approval.