Brussels, 7 February 2023
The European Commission has approved a €100 million Slovenian scheme to support companies in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022 and on 28 October 2022, based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’), recognising that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance.
Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of limited amount of aids. The aid will cover part of the salary paid by the eligible beneficiaries to those employees that are placed on short-time work or temporarily have to fully reduce their working hours. The scheme therefore aims at preserving the employment levels and at avoiding layoffs. The measure will be open to companies of all sizes and across sectors, with the exception of the financial and insurance one and the processing and marketing of agricultural products sector. In order to be eligible, companies must demonstrate that their energy costs have increased by at least 1.5 times compared to the reference price of 2021.
The Commission found that the Slovenian scheme is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework. In particular, the aid (i) will not exceed €250,000 per beneficiary active in the primary production of agricultural products, €300,000 per beneficiary active in the fishery and aquaculture sectors and €2 million per beneficiary active in all other sectors; and (ii) will be granted no later than 31 December 2023. The Commission concluded that the Slovenian scheme is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State, in line with Article 107(3)(b) TFEU and the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework. On this basis, the Commission approved the aid measure under EU State aid rules.
More information on the Temporary Crisis Framework and other actions taken by the Commission to address the economic impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine can be found here. The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under case number SA.105498 in the State aid register on the Commission’s competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved.
Source – EU Commission