EUU, Alm.del - 2016-17 - Bilag 222: Notat samt 2. høringssvar vedr. revision af gruppefritagelsesforordningen (havne og lufthavne)

Europaudvalget 2016-17
EUU Alm.del Bilag 222
Offentligt

Att: Commissioner Margrethe Vestager

European Commission

Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 2001049 Brussels

ERHVERVSMINISTEREN

Dear Commissioner Margrethe Vestager,

Joint letter from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and France concerning

state aid for relocation of jobs

In the Commission’s second draft of the General Block Exemption Regu-

lation (GBER) published 13 October 2016, it has come to our attention

that no alterations so far have been taken on board amending the text in

respect to the proposed article 2 point 61 a concerning provisions for con-

trol of relocation of undertakings and jobs based on state aid.

We would therefore like to take this opportunity to further elaborate and

explain the important proposed amendment of the block exemption, as we

are concerned for possible loss of control with relocation of undertakings

and jobs based on state aid in light of the proposed revision of the GBER.

We sincerely hope that the Commission will take onboard the following

concerns and that we can continue communication on this issue in order

to reach a solution.

We must relay our strong concern with the proposed insertion in the

GBER of a compatibility criterion of “unsubstantial” job losses resulting

from a regional investment aid beneficiary’s relocation. We are very con-

cerned about the current drafting of the Commission’s proposal in point

61a of the GBER to include regional investment aid for the relocation of

undertakings and workforce which defines “Closure” to mean losses of at

least a 100 jobs or at least 50 % of the workforce.

We propose that the provision should be rephrased to only include the

first sentence;

“Closure of the same or similar activity’ means full clo-

sures and also partial closures...”

and exclude any type of threshold. If a

threshold is inevitable, the number of 100 jobs should be set significantly

lower to minimize the distortive effects, which will surely arise from an

ERHVERVSMINISTERIET

Slotsholmsgade 10-12

1015 Kbenhavn K

Danmark

Tlf.

+45 33 92 33 50

Fax.

+45 33 12 37 78

CVR-nr. 10092485

EAN nr. 5798000026001

[email protected]

www.evm.dk

EUU, Alm.del - 2016-17 - Bilag 222: Notat samt 2. høringssvar vedr. revision af gruppefritagelsesforordningen (havne og lufthavne)

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unfair competition of state budgets, especially in countries where the

work force is mostly engaged in SMEs.

To further outline this rationale one must look at the proposed new provi-

sion in connection with the existing regional aid guidelines (RAG) for

2014-2020, which defines such moving around of jobs as a manifestly

negative effect (point 121, 126), unlikely to be balanced by any positive

elements

of course, provided that that there is a causal link between the

aid and the relocation. The RAG also explicitly states that such ‘reloca-

tion aid’ granted under a notified scheme remains subject to the same no-

tification obligation as the scheme.

This leads to a contradiction between the logic of the RAG and the pro-

posed new definition in the GBER article 2 point 61 a. The proposed new

article 2 point 61 a defines “Closure” to mean losses of at least a 100 jobs

or at least 50 % of the workforce. The exemption in the GBER laid down

in Article 13 provides Member States with a legal guarantee that aid to

relocation of undertakings below losses of 100 jobs or below 50 % of the

workforce is automatically compatible with the single market. This stands

in contrast with the presumption of incompatibility for this type of aid in

the RAG, which makes such aid subject to notification. The Commission

should not underestimate the deterrent effect of keeping a notification

requirement and the corollary risk of exposure to illegal aid and recovery.

The clear message from the Commission must be that there is no Europe-

an value added, if regional investment aid is allowed to move jobs around

Europe with tax payers’ money - be it national state aid or EU structural

funds. The aim must be to create more innovation, economic growth and

jobs based on fair competition on the single market - not to move under-

takings and jobs around Europe with public money.

We hope that these arguments have persuaded the Commission to reas-

sess the current proposed wording of point 61a and we would urge the

Commissioner to feel free to contact us for any further elaboration on this

issue.

Yours sincerely,

EUU, Alm.del - 2016-17 - Bilag 222: Notat samt 2. høringssvar vedr. revision af gruppefritagelsesforordningen (havne og lufthavne)

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Brian Mikkelsen

Minister for [Industry, Business and Financial Affairs]

Denmark

Monica Mæland

Minister of Trade and Industry

Norway

Mikael Damberg

Minister for Enterprise and Innovation

Sweden

Michel Sapin

Minister of the Economy and Finance

France